Notification of commencement of business

Persons required to givenotification of commencement of business
- Any person whointends to engage in any of the following businesses shall file a notificationthereof with the Minister of Food and Drug Safety, the Mayor of a SpecialSelf-Governing City, or the Governor of a Special Self-Governing Province orthe head of a Si/Gun/Gu (hereinafter referred as the“notifying office”) by type of business or place of business (A provision ofArticle 37(4) of the Food Sanitation Act and Subparagraph 8 of Article 25(1) ofthe Enforcement Decree of the Food Sanitation Act).
· Restrestaurant business
· Generalrestaurant business
· Cateringservice business
· Bakerybusiness

Restrictions on notification of commencementof business
- In any of thefollowing cases, filing of notification of commencement of business shall notbe processed (Article 38(2) of the Food Sanitation Act).
· Where abusiness operator intends to engage in the same type of business in the sameplace before 6 months have elapsed since an order was issued to close downhis/her place of business due to his/her violation of the Food Sanitation Act(excluding cases where an order to close down his/her place of business wasissued due to a violation of Subparagraph 1 of Article 44(2) of the FoodSanitation Act, and such order was issued under Subparagraph 19 of Article75(1) of the same Act) or an order was issued to close down his/her place ofbusiness under Article 16(1) to (4) of the Act on Labelling and Advertising ofFoods
√However, in the case where an order to close down a place of business wasissued as a result of the closure of the entire business establishment, theoperator may file a notification of commencement of business.
· Where abusiness operator intends to engage in the foodservice business in the sameplace before one year has elapsed since an order was issued to close downhis/her place of business for employing juveniles as entertainment workers andmaking them provide entertainment services (Subparagraph 1 of Article 44(2) ofthe Food Sanitation Act) or for committing an offence under Article 4 of theAct on the Punishment of Arrangement of Commercial Sex Acts, Etc. (Subparagraph19 of Article 75(1) of the Food Sanitation Act)
· Where the sameperson (including its representative for a corporation) who had been issuedwith an order to close down his/her business for violating the Food SanitationAct intends to engage in the same type of business which was subject to closurebefore 2 years have elapsed since such order was issued (excluding cases wheresuch order was issued for violating Articles 4 through 6, Article 8, andSubparagraph 1 of Article 44(2) of the Food Sanitation Act, or where such orderwas made to close down a business according to Subparagraph 19 of Article 75(1)of the Food Sanitation Act) or an order was issued to close down his/her placeof business under Article 16(1) to (4) of the Act on Labelling and Advertisingof Foods
· Where the sameperson (including its representative for a corporation) who had been issuedwith an order to close down his/her business for employing juveniles asentertainment workers and making them provide entertainment services(Subparagraph 1 of Article 44(2) of the Food Sanitation Act) or for committingan offence under Article 4 of the Act on the Punishment of Arrangement ofCommercial Sex Acts, etc. (Subparagraph 19 of Article 75(1) of the FoodSanitation Act) intends to engage in the foodservice business before 2 yearshave elapsed since such order was issued
· Where a person(including its representative for a corporation) who had been issued with anorder to close down his/her business for selling harmful foods, etc. (Article 4of the Food Sanitation Act), meat affected by disease, etc. (Article 5 of theFood Sanitation Act), chemical synthetics, etc. with no prescribed standardsand specifications (Article 6 of the Food Sanitation Act), and poisonousequipment, etc. (Article 8 of the Food Sanitation Act) intends to engage in thesame type of business before 5 years have elapsed since such order was issued
Procedure for notification of commencement of business

Documents required for submission when filinga notification of commencement of business
- Any person whointends to file a notification of commencement of business shall ensure thathis/her business is equipped with required facilities and submit the followingdocuments (including electronic documents) to a notifying office (Former partof Article 37(4) of the Food Sanitation Act and Article 42(1) of theEnforcement Regulations of the Food Sanitation Act).
1. Anotification of commencement of business (Attached Form 37 of the EnforcementRegulations of the Food Sanitation Act)
2. A certificateon completion of training (Applicable only if he/she has received training inadvance pursuant to Article 41(2) of the Food Sanitation Act)
3. A waterquality inspection (test) report issued by a drinking water quality inspectioninstitution pursuant to the Drinking Water Management Act (applicable only ifgroundwater, etc., rather than tap water, is to be used in the manufacturingprocess for drinking water or foods, or in cooking or cleaning of foods)
4. A license ornotification certificate for excursion ship and ferry business (applicable onlyif a rest restaurant business, a general restaurant business, and a bakerybusiness is to be operated at an excursion ship wharf or a ferry wharf in astructure floating on the water)
5. Ax-document that specifies the type and installed location of food vendingmachines (applicable only if at least 2 food vending machines have beeninstalled, and the serial management numbers have been assigned for bulk notification)
6. A license for water leisure business(applicable only if an operator intends to operate a rest restaurant or abakery in a water leisure business establishment in the form of a water surfacestructure)
7. Apermit for use of state-owned property (applicable only if an operator intendsto engage in the rest restaurant business, general restaurant business andbakery business in a military facility or a station facility of the nationalrailroad)
8. A x-document on the contract for theuse of urban railroad facilities signed with the relevant city urban railroadoperator (applicable only if an operator intends to operate a rest restaurant,a general restaurant or a bakery in station facilities of the urban railroad)
9. A x-document on the contract for theoperation of a restaurant for reserve forces (applicable only if an operatorintends to operate a general restaurant in a military facility)
10. Wherean operator intends to use an external place connected to the business place asa business place, a x-document proving that an operator have the right to usethe external place (a person who intends to operate a restaurant business, ageneral restaurant business, or a bakery Case only)
11. Suppose an operator intends to drive parcel vans and subcompact freightcars (Subparagraphs 1, 2 of Attached Table 1, and paragraph 1, item A ofremarks of the Enforcement Rule of the Automobile Management Act) or specialmotor vehicles (Subparagraph 2 of Attached Table 1 of the Enforcement Rule ofthe Automobile Management Act) intended for selling food products to operate a snackbar or a bakery. In this case, he/she shall prepare documents under AttachedTable 15-2 of the Enforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act.
12. Acertificate for the inspection of installation of children's play facilities(Article 12(1) of the Act on the Safe Management of Children’s Play Facilitiesand Article 7(4) of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Safe Management ofChildren’s Play Facilities) or a certificate for the regular inspection ofchildren’s play facilities (Article 12(2) of the Act on the Safe Management ofChildren’s Play Facilities and Article 8(5) of the Enforcement Decree of theAct on the Safe Management of Children’s Play Facilities) (applicable only ifan operator intends to install a children’s play facility at the correspondingbusiness establishment)
13. Documents regarding the agreement on using the shared kitchen with the location and size of the shared kitchen indicated (only applicable when using the shared kitchen operated by the shared kitchen business operator)

Confirmation of facilities at the businessestablishment
- In the event anotifying office is required to inspect facilities of a business establishmentafter receipt of business notification, the office must confirm the mattersnotified as to the facilities of the business establishment within one monthfrom the date of issuance of a business license(Article 42(10) (proviso) of theEnforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act).

Issuance of business license
- Once thebusiness notification procedure is complete, a notification certificate(Attached Form 39 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Food Sanitation Act)shall be issued by a notifying office (Article 42(8) of the EnforcementRegulations of the Food Sanitation Act).
Payment of registration and license tax

Payment of registration and license tax
- A person whointends to obtain a new license or alter the existing license shall file aregistration and license tax and pay the said tax to the head of the localgovernment having jurisdiction over the place of tax payment before a licensecertificate is issued to or served on him/her (Main body of Article 35(1) ofthe Local Tax Act, and Article 39 and Attached Table 1 of the EnforcementDecree of the Local Tax Act).
· Class 1:Operation of a rest restaurant business, a bakery business, or a general restaurantbusiness with gross floor area of 1,000m2 or more
· Class 2:Operation of a rest restaurant business, a bakery business, or a generalrestaurant business with gross floor area between 500m2and1,000m2
· Class 3:Operation of a rest restaurant business, a bakery business, or a generalrestaurant business with gross floor area between 300m2and500m2
· Class 4:Operation of a rest restaurant business, a bakery business or a generalrestaurant business that does not fall under Type 1-3
- Taxrates of registration and license tax on a license shall be determined based onthe following classification (Article 34(1) of the Local Tax Act).
Classification
|
Cities with population of over 500,000
|
Other cities
|
Guns
|
Class 1
|
KRW 67,500
|
KRW 45,000
|
KRW 27,000
|
Class 2
|
KRW 54,000
|
KRW 34,000
|
KRW 18,000
|
Class 3
|
KRW 40,500
|
KRW 22,500
|
KRW 12,000
|
Class 4
|
KRW 27,000
|
KRW 15,000
|
KRW 9,000
|
Sanctions for violations

Measures for closure of businessestablishment
- Where anyperson conducts business without filing a notification, the Minister of Foodand Drug Safety, the Special City Mayor, the Metropolitan City Mayor, theSpecial Self-Governing City Mayor, the Province Governor, the SpecialSelf-Governing Province Governor or the head of a Si/Gun/Gumay order the relevant public officials to take any of the following measuresto close down his/her place of business, but the measures shall be limited to aminimum necessary to prevent the business (Articles 79(1) and 79(4) of the FoodSanitation Act).
· Removing oreliminating the marking of the relevant place of business, such as signboards
· Posting anotice showing that the relevant place of business is not a legal place ofbusiness
· Sealing thatmakes the relevant business facilities and apparatuses unavailable for use

Criminal punishment
- Any person whofails to file a business notification shall be punished by imprisonment for nomore than 3 years or a fine not exceeding KRW 30 million (Subparagraph 1 ofArticle 97 of the Food Sanitation Act).