949 Cases of Origin Labeling Violations Detected in Q1... One in Five Involves 'Kimchi'

427 False Labels and 522 Unlabeled Locations
Criminal Penalties Including Up to 7 Years Imprisonment for False Labeling Companies
Fines Up to 10 Million Won for Unlabeled Companies

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Amid growing avoidance of Chinese-made kimchi due to videos such as the 'naked cabbage pickling' clip, 949 businesses were caught in the first quarter for falsifying or improperly labeling the origin of agricultural and food products.

The National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service (NAQS) announced on the 27th that it had caught 949 businesses violating origin labeling of agricultural and food products from January to March. Amid consumers' strong concerns about Chinese-made kimchi, napa cabbage kimchi accounted for the highest number of violations at 19%. Pork (13%), beef (11%), soybeans (5%), and rice (4%) followed. By business type, general restaurants accounted for 368 businesses (39%), processing companies 179 (19%), meat sales businesses 79 (8%), online sales businesses 49 (5%), and street vendors 45 (5%).

Overall, the number of violating businesses increased by 26 (2.8%) compared to the same period last year. The number of 'major violations' involving over 1 ton of violating products or fines exceeding 10 million KRW also rose by 5.8% year-on-year to 91 businesses.

Falsely labeling or failing to label the origin is subject to criminal penalties or fines under the Act on the Labeling of Origin of Agricultural and Fishery Products.

427 businesses with false labeling were criminally charged and, after prosecution, may face imprisonment of up to 7 years or fines up to 100 million KRW. The 522 businesses that failed to label must pay fines up to 10 million KRW. NAQS imposed a total of 133,562,000 KRW in fines on the unlabeled businesses.

Meanwhile, NAQS announced that it offers rewards ranging from 50,000 KRW to 10 million KRW to those who report cases of origin labeling fraud.

Lee Joo-myung, head of NAQS, said, "We plan to strengthen inspections on items that become issues due to rapid import increases or hygiene problems, as well as on online sales. We will conduct special crackdowns during seasonal periods such as Lunar New Year, Chuseok holidays, vacation seasons, and kimchi-making seasons in cooperation with consumer groups and local governments, and continuously provide consumers with information to distinguish product origins."

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