Customs Investigation of Importers of Price-Managed Items from the Middle East

The government will launch a customs investigation targeting companies importing price-managed items from the Middle East. Previously, at the Special Task Force for Livelihood Price Management involving relevant ministers, the government designated 43 items with high public impact—including energy, industrial goods, and agricultural, livestock, and marine products—as special items for livelihood price management. This move aims to stabilize consumer prices amid the prolonged situation in the Middle East.

The Korea Customs Service announced that, starting from May 11, it will begin customs investigations into 10 importers of special livelihood price management items.

The investigation will focus on seafood products, which are staple table foods; medical supplies, which are managed by the government for supply stability; and household goods, which show significant discrepancies between import and retail prices.

The Korea Customs Service is conducting these investigations with the intention of strictly cracking down on unfair trade practices that distort import prices and thereby fuel domestic price increases.

The 10 companies selected for the customs investigation were narrowed down from the top 112 importers—by volume—of the government-designated special livelihood price management items. The selection was based on analyses of trends in price fluctuations between import and domestic sales, as well as suspicions of reporting significantly higher or lower import prices compared to industry peers.

The Korea Customs Service plans to closely examine whether the selected companies have engaged in tax evasion through under-invoicing, market disruption, or profiteering and unfair gain by distorting import prices.

For seafood product companies, the investigation will look into acts such as reporting lower import prices when the standard tariff rate (10%) is applied compared to when the quota tariff (0%) is applied, and persistently reporting lower import prices even as domestic consumer prices are on the rise—both of which constitute tax evasion.

For medical supplies, the investigation will target practices such as intentionally delaying market distribution by storing goods in bonded areas or company warehouses for extended periods, and whether companies complied with import requirements—such as obtaining permits and approvals under relevant laws—during customs clearance.

For goods that received customs duty reductions, the investigation will focus on whether companies failed to pass on the tariff reduction benefits to consumer prices, and whether they made excessive profits by exploiting the price gap between import and domestic sales prices.

Additionally, companies that have been subject to corrective orders from the Fair Trade Commission for providing online lowest price lists to wholesale and retail partners and demanding resale price maintenance will also be investigated for the appropriateness of their imported goods’ pricing.

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