Korean products for pop-up stores and K-festivals: import guide

How do event organisers bring Korean products in for a pop-up or festival?

Product rules and cautions for importers

Normal import or temporary admission

Decide item by item before the invoice is written. Anything that will be sold, eaten, sampled, handed out or worn out at the event is a normal commercial import: duty and import tax are paid at entry and the goods must meet local product rules. Display units, props, mannequins, screens, costumes and demonstration equipment that go back unchanged can enter without duty under temporary admission. Keep the two groups on separate invoices and in separately marked cartons, because customs treats them as two different declarations.

ATA Carnet: what it covers and what it does not

• An ATA Carnet is a single customs document for temporary export and import. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) describes it as valid for up to one year and accepted in about 80 countries and customs territories. It covers goods for trade fairs and exhibitions, commercial samples and professional equipment.
• It does not cover consumable or disposable items, and it is not meant for goods that will be sold. UK guidance also excludes postal shipments, goods for processing or repair, and consumables such as alcohol and tobacco. Snacks for tasting, cosmetics testers, flyers and giveaways therefore do not belong on a carnet.
• The ICC directory lists the United States, EU member states, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam among accepting territories. Check with the destination customs office that exhibition goods are accepted there under a carnet before relying on it.
• For goods leaving Korea, the carnet is issued by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), which the ICC lists as Korea’s guaranteeing organisation. The application is made on the Korean side, by the exporter or exhibitor that sends the goods.
• Everything on the carnet has to leave again in the same condition within its validity. US government guidance notes that if carnet goods are sold instead of re-exported, the duties and taxes become payable together with a penalty of 10% of that amount.
• Where a carnet is not used, most countries have a national temporary admission procedure backed by a guarantee. In the United States a temporary importation bond is normally set at double the estimated duties and fees, or 110% for samples and professional equipment. In the United Kingdom, HMRC asks for temporary admission applications at least one month before import.

Goods sold at the event

Stock for sale pays the duty shown in the table plus import VAT or GST, and sales at the venue are then subject to local sales tax or VAT rules. The importer of record must be a person or company that customs in the destination country accepts, which for a visiting organiser often means a local partner, the venue’s appointed forwarder or a customs broker acting under a written agreement. Settle who this is before the goods are ordered, because that party’s name goes on the invoice and on any product registration.

Samples and giveaways

Free distribution is still an import. Some countries give duty relief for small promotional items handed out at an event. EU rules (Regulation 1186/2009, Articles 86 to 94) relieve samples of negligible value, printed advertising material and small samples given away or used up at a trade fair, but exclude alcohol, tobacco and fuels. UK guidance on event goods lists a similar relief for low-value giveaways and for goods used or consumed at trade fairs. Conditions and value limits are set by each customs authority, so ask the broker to confirm the relief in writing rather than declaring goods as “no commercial value”.

Food sampling and temporary food stalls

• Serving or selling food at an event normally needs a permit from the local health authority, separate from customs clearance. In Los Angeles County, the event organiser needs an organiser permit when two or more temporary food facilities take part, each food vendor needs its own permit, and applications are due 30 days before the event, with a late fee inside 14 days.
• In England, Wales and Northern Ireland a food business, including a temporary stall and including food given away free, must register with the local authority at least 28 days before trading.
• Packaged food must meet the destination country’s labelling, ingredient and additive rules even when it is only handed out. Products containing meat, dairy or egg ingredients face additional import controls in many countries; check these lines first. Food sent to the United States falls under FDA prior notice rules; check FDA guidance for how samples and gift packs are treated.
• Check remaining shelf life against the event date and against any sell-off period afterwards.

Cosmetics and testers

Cosmetics rules apply to testers and free samples as well as to products sold. The EU Cosmetics Regulation defines making a product available as any supply in the course of a commercial activity, whether paid or free of charge, and requires a responsible person established in the EU and notification through the EU portal before the product is placed on the market. Great Britain requires a UK-based Responsible Person, notification to the Office for Product Safety and Standards and labelling that carries the Responsible Person’s name and address. In the United States, cosmetics do not need FDA premarket approval, but MoCRA requires facility registration and product listing, with exemptions for certain small businesses. The importer of record is responsible for product registration, notification, labelling approval and any licences in the destination country; the exporter supplies the documents needed for those filings, such as ingredient lists and product specifications. Registration is decided by the authority and cannot be guaranteed by the exporter.

Licensed merchandise and IP permissions

K-pop, drama and character goods carry trademarks, artist likenesses and copyrighted artwork. Buying official goods in Korea does not by itself give the right to resell them commercially in another country, to use artist names and images in event advertising, or to play music and video at the venue. Ask the rights holder or its licensee about territory before ordering, keep proof that goods are genuine, and do not order unofficial fan-made goods bearing protected marks: customs can detain them and the event date will pass before the dispute is settled. See also our guide to K-pop goods and stationery wholesale.

Other regulated items

Children’s products, toys and electrical goods need the destination country’s safety marking and testing, arranged by the importer of record. Medical devices and prescription products need device or drug licensing in both countries and are outside ordinary consolidation orders. Alcohol such as soju is dutiable almost everywhere, needs a licence to sell or serve, and cannot travel under an ATA Carnet as a consumable.

Timing risk and contingency planning

• An event date does not move, so plan backwards from it. The permit lead times above (30 days in Los Angeles County, 28 days for UK food registration, one month for UK temporary admission) are longer than air transit itself.
• Air freight is the usual mode for small event shipments. Aim for the goods to clear customs well before set-up day, not on it, so that a document query or physical inspection can be answered in time.
• Send product lists, ingredient lists and draft invoices to the broker before the goods leave Korea. Most holds on mixed shipments come from food and cosmetics lines with incomplete documents.
• Ship high-risk lines (food with animal ingredients, new cosmetics, licensed goods) separately from the rest, so that one held carton does not stop the whole consignment.
• Keep a fallback list of items that can be dropped or replaced locally, and agree in advance who pays storage if goods are held.

Unsold stock after the event

• Duty-paid stock can stay in the country and be sold on, for example to a local retailer or online, as long as product registrations and labelling remain valid for ordinary retail sale.
• Re-export of duty-paid goods is possible, but a refund of the duty and tax already paid depends on local drawback rules and is not automatic. Ask the broker before the event, not after.
• Temporary admission goods must be re-exported and the carnet or bond discharged at the border. If some of them are sold or left behind, they have to be declared and duty and tax paid; under a carnet this can also bring a penalty.
• Destruction of expired food or damaged goods is normally done under customs or local authority supervision with a record, so that the goods are not treated as sold.

News and recent developments

Korean culture events abroad are growing in size and in government backing, while the United States, the largest single venue, changed its tariff rules for Korean goods in mid-2026.

Frequently asked questions