Gyeonggi-do Strengthens Safety Management of Imported Agricultural Products

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province is strengthening safety management of imported agricultural products distributed and sold within the province.

On the 19th, Gyeonggi Province announced that the Agricultural Policy and Maritime Affairs Bureau, along with the Agricultural Food Distribution Division, Food Safety Division, Health and Environment Research Institute, and Animal Hygiene Testing Center, will carry out safety management activities for imported agricultural products through division of tasks by institution.

The directions for safety management activities include ▲safety inspections ▲origin labeling checks ▲consumer education and promotion.

First, the province will conduct safety inspections on 1,500 cases of imported agricultural products distributed within the province. The inspection targets are imported agricultural, livestock, and marine products distributed before and during sales at medium and large distribution (logistics) stores and imported food retailers. Inspection items include 341 types of pesticide residues, 3 types of heavy metals, radiation, and 105 types of veterinary drugs.

To establish fair trade order, the province will also conduct origin labeling checks on 68,000 locations including agricultural food stores and restaurants. The target items total 958 products.

The province will also carry out consumer education and promotional activities to inform about the safety of agricultural products and encourage rational consumption.

Kim Chung-beom, Director of the Agricultural Policy and Maritime Affairs Bureau of the province, emphasized, "As the inflow of imported agricultural products into the country increases every year and residents’ interest in safe food is high, we will thoroughly block the distribution of non-compliant food through meticulous safety management from production to the dining table."

Meanwhile, last year, the province conducted about 18,000 safety investigations on agricultural and marine products, detected 117 cases of non-compliant food, and took administrative actions such as shipment delays, prohibition of delivery and sales, and disposal.

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