Sending food packages without prior registration or food from companies not registered with the U.S. FDA is not permitted, and in the case of multiple offenders could result in packages being returned starting in August of next year.

The U.S. FDA's registration procedures are quite complicated, however, and homemade food cannot be registered at all, so initial confusion can be expected.

The Bioterrorism Act was created by the U.S. government to respond to the threat of biological and chemical terrorism in the wake of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Prior to the act's taking effect Friday, companies that export food products to the United States were issued identification numbers, upon registration.

There is an eight month deferment period, however, so packages found to be in violation of the new regulations before August 12, 2004 will only be tagged with warning stickers. MAF said that repeated failure to register or the appearance of intentional failure to do so could result in food packages being returned to Korea.

"There's not a lot to worry about if you send food once or twice a year," a ministry official said. "But families that regularly send food to loved ones overseas should be prepared."

Registration requires stating in English the name of the individual who purchased the food, the recipient, the name of the food product, the date the package is being sent, and the name of the food company that produced the product, after which the sender is issued a "delivery number" to write on the outside of the package. "The U.S. made the registration procedures too complicated," the ministry official said. "Expect no small amount of inconvenience."

Call the Ministry of Agriculture and Farming for further information at (02) 500-1853. (Yi Dong-hyeok, dong@chosun.com )