The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Dec. 16 said it prepared a revised bill on animal feed standards and specifications to designate separate labeling rules for pet food products. (Rural Development Administration's National Institute of Animal Science)

By Lee Dasom

Specialized labeling standards for dog and cat food will come next year.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Dec. 16 announced this through its revised bill on animal feed standards and specifications to boost consumer knowledge of the pet food market.

New nutritional standards for cat and dog food will include classification of items meeting nutritional requirements as "complete pet food" and those that do not as "other pet food." Such criteria will be set by the Rural Development Administration's National Institute of Animal Science.

To reflect consumer demand, mandatory labeling information will be added to pet food like type, and standards for labeling raw ingredients will also be specified. To this end, companies will be required to label the ratio of ingredients and use words easy to understand for consumers.

To prevent confusion among consumers, standards for emphasizing certain messages will be specified like "fit for human consumption."

The revisions will be announced in May after undergoing administrative review in the first half of next year.

The ministry said, "Improvement of the system is expected to further expand product options for pets and raise the pet food industry's competitiveness."


dlektha0319@korea.kr