30 Illegal Agricultural Seed and Seedling Distribution Companies Caught in the First Half of the Year

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyun-jung] Thirty companies were caught illegally distributing agricultural seeds and seedlings.

On the 3rd, the National Seed Management Office announced that it conducted a distribution investigation targeting 1,204 companies nationwide handling agricultural seeds and seedlings in the first half of this year, and identified 30 companies violating the Seed Industry Act, taking measures such as referring them to the prosecution.

This investigation is conducted intensively every year according to the sowing season of each agricultural product, with a particular focus on cracking down on cases where 'edible potatoes' are falsely sold as 'seed potatoes' without certification.

The timing is as follows: seed potatoes in February to March, June to July, and October to November; fruit tree seedlings in March to April; vegetable seeds in March to April and July to August; seedlings in March to May and July to September; and mushroom spawn, nutritional bodies, flowers, special-purpose and medicinal crops (as needed). Major violations include uncertified seed potatoes, unregistered seed businesses, and failure to display quality labels. By product category, seed potatoes accounted for 11 cases (37%), fruit tree seedlings 7 cases (23%), vegetables 7 cases (23%), flowers 2 cases (7%), and others 3 cases (10%). By business type, 26 seed sellers (87%), 3 seed business operators (10%), and 1 seedling grower (3%) were caught.

Among the companies caught, 19 will face "imprisonment of up to one year or fines up to 10 million KRW," and 11 will be subject to fines ranging from 100,000 to 1,000,000 KRW.

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