Relaxation of Election Requirements for Agricultural Cooperative Corporation Executives... Those with Criminal Convictions Cannot Serve as Agricultural Corporation Executives

by Ju Sangdon

Published 18 Feb.2024 11:00(KST)

Enactment and Enforcement of the Amendment to the Agricultural and Fishery Management Entities Act

The Act on the Promotion and Support of Agricultural and Fishery Management Entities, which relaxes the requirements for the election of executives of farming cooperative corporations and establishes disqualification criteria for executives of agricultural corporations, has been promulgated and enforced.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 18th that it will promulgate and enforce the partial amendment of the "Agricultural and Fishery Management Entities Act," which includes deregulation of agricultural corporations and efficiency improvements in management.

First, the regulation has been relaxed to allow executives of farming cooperative corporations to be elected from among associate members (non-farmers), but at least two-thirds of the total number of representative members and directors must be elected from among members (farmers).

Relaxation of Election Requirements for Agricultural Cooperative Corporation Executives... Those with Criminal Convictions Cannot Serve as Agricultural Corporation Executives

In addition, the Act explicitly states that the term of office for executives of farming cooperative corporations shall be determined by the articles of incorporation within a range of three years. However, farming cooperative corporations that have set the term of office for executives to more than three years as of the enforcement date of the Act must change the term of office to within three years within three years after the enforcement date.

Persons who have been criminally punished for violating the Agricultural and Fishery Management Entities Act or the Farmland Act, and persons who were executives of agricultural corporations that were dissolved by order due to violation of business scope, are prohibited from becoming executives of agricultural corporations for a certain period, introducing disqualification provisions for executives.

Along with this, a deemed dissolution system has been introduced, whereby dormant farming cooperative corporations will be collectively reorganized by the court. Farming cooperative corporations that have not had any registration changes in the past five years will be deemed dissolved, and this system will be enforced from January 24, 2027, three years later.