Formation and Operation of a Consultative Body for Improving the Logistics System of the Fisheries Section at Garak Market

Improving Trading Systems by Abolishing Dual Listing Auction for Fisheries, Expanding Designation of Unlisted Items to Prevent Exclusion of Stevedore Unions, and Establishing a Win-Win Foundation by Enhancing Competitiveness of Public Wholesale Markets

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seoul Agro-Fisheries & Food Corporation (President Kim Kyung-ho) has decided to establish and operate the 'Garag Market Fisheries Logistics System Improvement Council,' which includes various stakeholders such as producers, consumers, stevedore unions, shippers, wholesale corporations, and intermediate wholesalers, to protect socially vulnerable groups and to facilitate smooth distribution of agricultural and fishery products and strengthen the competitiveness of public wholesale markets following improvements in the transaction system and methods for the fisheries category at Garak Market.

In the case of the fisheries category at Garak Market, the transaction volume has long been halved compared to its peak. This was confirmed through a joint investigation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government (July 2019 to February 2020) to be due to rigid transaction systems such as double auctions?where after the auction at the production site wholesale market, the products must be auctioned again at the consumer public wholesale market?and outdated logistics systems.

To improve these structural problems, the corporation gathered opinions from stakeholders including shippers, stevedore unions, wholesale corporations, and intermediate wholesalers, and sought improvement plans through objective research services. After deliberation and resolution by the 'Garak Market Market Management Operation Committee,' the wholesale market review body under the Agricultural Products Distribution and Price Stabilization Act (Agricultural and Fishery Products Distribution and Price Stabilization Act), the corporation reported the fisheries category transaction system improvements and the '2021 Expansion Plan for Non-Listed Items' to the market operator in December 2020.

In the current situation where online and direct transactions at production sites have become mainstream, the introduction of market wholesalers to reduce distribution stages within the wholesale market and the expansion of non-listed items that intermediate wholesalers can directly trade with shippers are unavoidable choices to secure the competitiveness of public wholesale markets, as judged by the Market Management Operation Committee members, for the benefit of producers and consumers using the public wholesale market.

Since non-listed items traded by intermediate wholesalers can also be auctioned by wholesale market corporations, expanding the designation of non-listed items will promote competition between these two distribution entities to attract agricultural and fishery products, thereby inducing an increase in transaction volume within the wholesale market. This will lead to an increase in stevedoring work, ultimately contributing to job creation for both listed and non-listed stevedore union members.

In particular, given the nature of non-listed item transactions, which combine the roles of collecting and selling agricultural and fishery products, if the stevedore union establishes a systematic organization such as a professional stevedoring logistics corporation, the expansion of non-listed item transactions could become an opportunity to expand the scope of logistics work and buyer delivery within Garak Market, as well as increase manpower for the stevedore union.

Already, the Garak Market fruit and vegetable stevedore union operates a non-listed branch (58 members) responsible for stevedoring and store delivery of non-listed agricultural products outside of wholesale market corporations.

President Kim Kyung-ho stated, “While strengthening the competitiveness of Garak Market to protect producers and citizen consumers, we will actively seek support measures so that stevedore union members can adapt to environmental changes such as the expansion of pallet shipments and mechanization of logistics systems, thereby protecting socially vulnerable groups including the stevedore union.”

He added, “We plan to form and operate a council with various stakeholders to secure the competitiveness of the stevedore union and fundamentally respond to changes in the distribution environment.”

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