Gyeonggi-do Intensifies Origin Labeling Crackdown on Essential Goods Ahead of Lunar New Year

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will conduct crackdowns on violations of origin labeling for essential goods ahead of the Lunar New Year.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 9th that it will carry out joint inspections with city and county authorities on violations of origin labeling for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products used for ancestral rites and gifts for the Lunar New Year until the 23rd.

During this inspection, the province will focus on checking origin labeling of ritual items such as beef, pork, chicken, bracken, balloon flower root, abalone, and croaker, mainly at agricultural, livestock, and fishery product sales outlets and traditional markets within the province.

Additionally, gift items such as fruit baskets, Korean traditional sweets, and ginseng products will be examined for false origin labeling, failure to label, and violations of labeling methods.

Notably, 129 members of the 'Gyeonggi Province Origin Labeling Monitors,' the first group of its kind established nationwide by a local government last year, will be deployed for this inspection. The monitors will distribute leaflets and informational signs containing details about proper origin labeling methods and conduct educational activities regarding the origin labeling system.

Under current law, falsely labeling the origin of agricultural and fishery products can result in imprisonment for up to seven years or a fine of up to 100 million KRW.

Failure to label the origin or violations of labeling methods can lead to fines of up to 10 million KRW.

Information on businesses and violation types detected during the origin labeling inspections can be found on the websites of the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service (http://www.naqs.go.kr) and the National Fishery Products Quality Management Service (http://www.nfqs.go.kr).

Lee Hae-won, Director of the Agricultural Food Distribution Division of the province, stated, "Residents' interest in safe food is higher than ever. We will lead the proper implementation and establishment of origin labeling for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products distributed within the province to establish a fair trade order, and conduct thorough guidance and inspections to ensure that ingredients violating origin labeling do not reach residents' tables."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.