Listening to the voices of the food and drug industry and spurring regulatory innovation in the overseas expansion of domestic companies
▲ On the 16th, Minister of Food and Drug Safety Oh Yoo-gyeong visited the Dana Green Innovation Center in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul and held a meeting with representatives of food tech startups. (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety)
With the first anniversary of his inauguration approaching, Minister Oh Yoo-gyeong of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is speeding up regulatory innovation by increasing contact with the field. While traveling around the industry to listen to his voice, he has expanded his stride to overseas and is ready to produce results that both companies and consumers can feel.
According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the 19th, Director Oh will visit food and drug policy sites such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from the 20th to the 23rd. Based on the world‘s best regulatory science ecosystem, it plans to create synergy in regulatory innovation promoted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety by cooperating with US regulatory agencies that lead the food, bio, and digital health sectors. This is the first time that the heads of Korean and American food and drug regulatory agencies have met in person.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has set ‘innovation’ as its key goal this year and is implementing a wide-ranging policy. At a press conference on the 23rd of last month, Director Oh expressed his strong will for regulatory innovation, saying, “There are many cases where the red traffic lights that were necessary in the past are not taken again because the world has changed.” .
Currently, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is trying to abolish or relieve regulations that do not fit the changing times and environment in order to rapidly enter the market for innovative products in the field of food and medicine and to strengthen the global competitiveness of the domestic industry. 100 tasks in the four areas of deregulation are being discovered and are being pursued. Director Oh is constantly on the field for practical regulatory innovation that consumers want. On the 16th, he met representatives of food tech startups at the Dana Green Innovation Center in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, and promised regulatory innovation for the development of food tech emerging as a new business.
▲Director Youkyung Oh is giving a greeting at the ‘Korea Pharmaceutical Bio-Healthcare Association 1st Forum’ held at the Seoul Press Center on the 9th. (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety)
Earlier on the 8th, they met with officials from the food industry to seek ways to boost exports. Director Oh said, “We will actively support domestic companies so that there are no difficulties in advancing overseas by adjusting our regulations to global standards so that domestic companies can be competitive in the global market.”
During this visit to the US, Director Oh will hold an on-site meeting with the food, pharmaceutical, bio and medical device industries. He plans to comprehensively discuss issues related to export promotion, establishment of a regulatory system that meets global standards, resolution of technical regulatory barriers, and difficulties related to global advancement.
Director Oh’s on-site activities at home and abroad are embodied in the ‘Food and Drug Regulatory Innovation 2.0 Plan’. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety decided to complete Regulatory Innovation 2.0, which will solidify the innovation and safety support system in the bio and digital health sector, with Director Oh’s visit to the US as an opportunity.
In addition to the four areas of existing regulatory innovation 1.0, new industry support, improvement of public welfare inconveniences and burdens, international harmony, and elimination of procedural regulations, △digital conversion of work methods △export regulation support field tasks are added, and the focus will be placed on “consumer-friendliness.” Prospect.