Jeonnam Province Implements Strengthened 'Certification' Management Measures for Eco-Friendly Agricultural Products

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province announced on the 14th that it will implement strengthened certification management measures, including business restrictions on farms with canceled eco-friendly certifications and the companies responsible for the causes.

Despite various eco-friendly agricultural product certification management measures and strong subsidy recovery actions pursued so far, cases of certification cancellation due to annual certification abandonment and detection of residual pesticides have been repeated. This measure was prepared to fundamentally block this.

To strengthen the management of eco-friendly agricultural product certification, fields suspected of pesticide use from the production stage will be inspected by collecting samples frequently in the presence of the farm owners, thereby enhancing on-site management.

For farms with canceled eco-friendly agricultural product certification, subsidies will be recovered, and support for provincial subsidies related to eco-friendly agriculture will be restricted for 3 years for the first cancellation and 5 years for the second cancellation.

Agro-material supply companies and joint pest control companies that caused certification cancellation by mixing pesticides during joint pest control will be permanently restricted from participating in eco-friendly agriculture sector projects.

To this end, close cooperation with the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service will be maintained to share information on farms with canceled certifications and the companies responsible, and continuous management will be planned.

Soyeongho, Director of the Agriculture, Livestock and Food Bureau of Jeonnam Province, said, “We will ensure that farmers who sincerely practice eco-friendly agriculture are not harmed by the misconduct of some farms,” and added, “We will support the production of eco-friendly agricultural products that consumers can trust and do our best in certification management.”

According to the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service’s investigation, the eco-friendly agricultural product certification area in Jeonnam Province last year was 45,928 hectares, accounting for 56% of the national total, and the organic farming area was 23,770 hectares, accounting for 61% of the national total. In particular, the organic farming area in Jeonnam surpassed the pesticide-free area, accounting for 51.7% of the total eco-friendly certification area in the province, renewing the largest area ever recorded.

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