Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs: "Rice Market Isolation Can Be Implemented Immediately When Necessary"

"Rice Prices Downward Trend to Continue for Now... Isolation if Necessary"
"AI, Next 1-2 Weeks Critical... No Abnormalities in Egg Supply"

No Mention of CPTPP Disadvantaged Items... "Under Discussion"

"Amendment of Farmland Act Should Not Discourage Return to Farming"

"Essential to Introduce Differential Pricing by Raw Milk Usage," Emphasized

"Government's Role is to Create a Future for 'Futureless' Dairy Industry"

Kim Hyun-soo, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, speaking at a press briefing held at the Government Sejong Complex on the afternoon of the 16th. (Photo by Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Kim Hyun-soo, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated on the 16th that "rice market isolation" can be implemented immediately when necessary.

He indicated that since rice production has increased compared to last year and rice prices are declining, he could accept the claims of farmers' groups and presidential election candidates that 300,000 tons (t) should be isolated from the market.

"Rice prices likely to continue downward trend... Isolation possible when necessary"

Minister Kim made these remarks during a press briefing at the Government Complex Sejong in the afternoon. Regarding the current decline in rice prices, he explained, "This year's production is about 270,000 tons more than actual demand, prices are generally weak, and it seems the downward curve will continue a bit longer."

Earlier, on the 14th, Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, posted on his social media (SNS), "On the 24th of last month, I expressed concern about the collapse of rice prices and proposed the government's preemptive market isolation of 270,000 tons of rice, but due to the lukewarm attitude of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, it has not yet been implemented," and urged again, "I strongly call on the government to immediately take action to isolate 270,000 tons of rice from the market." Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, also wrote on his SNS that day, "The government should not ignore the farmers' desperate feelings and must take a more active stance." He requested the government to isolate 300,000 tons of rice from the market.

When asked, "Can rice market isolation be done?" Minister Kim replied, "I think rice overproduction (and the resulting isolation) should consider not only supply and demand but also market conditions, and we are monitoring the price decline situation," adding, "If the necessary time comes during that process, we will immediately (isolate it)."

AI quarantine, the next 1-2 weeks are the golden time... No egg supply issues

Regarding the domestic spread of avian influenza (AI), Minister Kim diagnosed, "The next 1-2 weeks are the most critical period." So far, about 700,000 laying hens have been culled, and there are currently no supply issues with eggs.

However, he said they will strictly manage to prevent misidentification of positive or negative results through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing while maintaining the principle of "adjusting the culling range proportional to risk."

Minister Kim emphasized, "There is a saying that 'AI starts with ducks and ends with ducks.' Among the 13 confirmed AI cases so far, 7 were ducks and 6 were meat ducks," adding, "We are adjusting the culling range every two weeks, and at each time, we should thoroughly evaluate the risk and reduce the culling range accordingly."

No mention of CPTPP vulnerable items... "Listening to stakeholders' opinions"

Amid concerns from the agricultural, livestock, and fisheries sectors about opening markets during the process of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Minister Kim showed a cautious stance, saying, "We will proceed with discussions with stakeholders." This came after Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki stated at a foreign press briefing the day before, "We aim to submit the CPTPP membership application within the current government term."

Minister Kim clarified that we are still at the stage of discussing CPTPP membership externally and have not submitted the application yet. When reporters asked again about vulnerable items and trading countries, he replied, "We are reviewing the potential impact of CPTPP membership on our side, but for now, we are only listening to the opinions of relevant stakeholders, nothing more or less," adding, "It is difficult to talk about (vulnerable) items at this time."

Regarding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), scheduled to take effect in February next year, Minister Kim said, "The indirect damage to agriculture is greater than the direct damage from RCEP, and there are not many items where tariff reductions from RCEP directly match one-to-one with major domestic agricultural items," adding, "What we mainly consider is preparing additional supplementary measures to enhance the overall competitiveness of the fruit sector."

"Amendment to the Farmland Act should not discourage return-to-farming intentions"

Minister Kim emphasized that the strengthening of the Farmland Act, which allows only farmers who directly cultivate the land to own farmland according to the principle of 'Gyeongja Yujeon' (land should be farmed by those who cultivate it) following the Korean Land and Housing Corporation (LH) land speculation scandal in March, should not become an obstacle that discourages those planning to return to farming. The government plans to change the system from the 'Farmland Register,' which tracks ownership based on the owner's address, to the 'Farmland Ledger,' which tracks ownership based on the specific land parcel, and expects to complete the system within next year.

Minister Kim expressed concern, saying, "The amendment to the Farmland Act could make it difficult for those who genuinely want to start farming to secure farmland." He mentioned the part of the amendment that prohibits acquiring farmland in agricultural promotion zones for weekend or experiential farming purposes. He added, "Statistics show that weekend farms in promotion zones are not very common," and emphasized, "For example, if agricultural corporations or suspected land speculators (not young farmers planning to return to farming) buy farmland, the screening will be significantly strengthened, but we will try not to cause difficulties for returnees in securing farmland."

"Government's role is to create a future for the dairy industry without a future... Introduction of differentiated pricing by use is essential"

Minister Kim stressed that the raw milk price system must be reformed from a production cost-linked system to a differentiated pricing system by use. He pointed out that the production cost-linked system does not align with the legal principle stated in the Dairy Promotion Act, which considers both producers (farmers) and consumers' situations.

According to Minister Kim, dairy companies pay about 400 won per liter to purchase imported milk, but it costs about 1,100 won to buy domestic raw milk. Due to this price gap, dairy companies have become reliant on imported raw materials for products like cheese, and the self-sufficiency rate of raw milk, which was in the high 70% range in 2001, dropped sharply to the 40% range last year, a decline of over 30 percentage points. Minister Kim said, "We need to introduce a differentiated pricing system by use between so-called 'white milk' (beverage milk) and processed milk (such as cheese)."

He also emphasized the need to overhaul the main decision-making system. According to Minister Kim, the Dairy Promotion Association's board of directors consists of 15 members, and a two-thirds majority is required to hold a board meeting. Among the 15, 7 are producers, and if all of them exercise veto power, holding a board meeting becomes uncertain. Minister Kim said, "We plan to hold the Dairy Industry Development Committee once more at the end of the year and will try to find a consensus through discussions with producers and others."

He even used the expression "no future" regarding the fundamentals of the Korean dairy industry to emphasize the need for reform. He said, "If our dairy industry continues as it is, it has no future," adding, "Creating a future for a dairy industry without a future is the government's role, and we have no other intention. We will reflect this determination and proceed with consultations with producers and others."

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