Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, 5 food and drug safety agencies → integrated into 2

Establishment of Food Safety Policy Development Institute and Korea Food Safety Authority

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Sang-hyun = While the government is pursuing the reduction of public institutions, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is consolidating five of the related agencies into two to strengthen food and drug safety management expertise and increase service efficiency.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 7th that it will merge the Food Safety Information Institute and the Food Safety Management Institute into the Food Safety Policy Development Institute (tentative name), and the Korea Food Safety Management Institute, Korea Orphan Essential Drugs Center, and Vaccine Safety Technology Support Center will be merged into the Korea Food Safety Authority (tentative name).

Regarding the integration of institutions, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety explained that it intends to link and reorganize the functions of each institution with the goal of realizing food and drug safety management that meets the public's expectations.

The Food Safety Information Institute has collected and analyzed food safety information and conducted policy research, and the Food Safety Management Institute has been in charge of work related to food hygiene and nutritional management for children and the elderly.

The newly established Food Safety Policy Development Institute will organically link and promote various policies previously handled by existing organizations.

An official from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said, “We will expand the scope of information dissemination of food hazards to meal service sites such as daycare centers and senior welfare facilities, and use the hygiene and nutrition management data collected by the Food Safety Management Institute to develop policies.”

The Korea Food and Drug Safety Agency, created by integrating pharmaceutical organizations, systematically collects safety information on vaccines and orphan drugs, compensates for damages, and manages supply and demand.

If side effects occur after taking essential medicines, so far, you had to contact the Korea Pharmaceutical Safety Management Institute for damage relief information and check with the Korea Orphan and Essential Medicines Center for information on the introduction of alternative medicines. However, from now on, all inquiries can be made to the Korea Pharmaceutical Safety Authority.

This corporation promotes the expansion of testing and analysis equipment and educational infrastructure for all medicines, including new drugs and advanced biopharmaceuticals, as well as vaccines.