National Seed Management Office to Investigate Illegal Seed 'Danggeun Trading'

Investigation into Illegal Seed E-commerce Transactions Between Individuals
Imprisonment or Fines for Violations

The National Seed Management Office announced on the 3rd that it will actively promote an investigation into the distribution of illegal seeds traded electronically between individuals online.

The investigation targets include foliage plant propagules and fruit tree seedlings. The investigation items cover seed business registration, reporting of production and import sales of varieties, and quality labeling. If caught, measures such as imprisonment for up to one year, fines of up to 10 million KRW, or administrative fines will be imposed.

National Seed Management Office building. Photo by National Seed Management Office

Last year, the National Seed Management Office continuously monitored online trading sites such as Danggeun Market and Junggonara, deleting posts and preemptively promoting compliance with the Seed Industry Act and related regulations.

For this year's investigation, the number of investigators has been increased compared to last year (20 people). Eleven cyber task force teams and 33 honorary monitors composed of members from producer organizations and agricultural-related groups will conduct joint inspections and special investigations on distribution during April and May.

The National Seed Management Office plans to obtain cooperation from 13 producer organizations, including the Korea Rice Farmers Central Association and the Korea Field Management Central Association, where honorary monitors are affiliated, considering the characteristics of the regional-based secondhand trading platform Danggeun Market.

Additionally, they will designate prohibited items such as fruit tree seedlings and cuttings (Danggeun Market has already designated cuttings as prohibited items), discuss measures to sanction sellers, and promote the seed management system while coordinating with platform administrators of Danggeun Market, Junggonara, and others regarding illegal seed distribution.

Gyo Kyung-gyu, Director of the Seed Industry Support Division at the National Seed Management Office, stated, “Through joint inspections by the cyber task force and honorary seed monitors, we expect to reduce consumer (farmers) damages caused by illegal seed distribution.”

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