Nine Foreign Food Stores Selling Unreported Imported Livestock Products Caught... Legal Action Taken

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The government has identified nine foreign food retailers violating the Livestock Products Sanitation Control Act and reported them to the relevant authorities.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 30th that, following a focused crackdown on illegal activities such as the distribution and sale of unreported imported livestock products at 90 foreign food retailers from May 30 to June 10, nine violations were detected.

This crackdown was conducted to block the distribution of livestock products illegally imported without import declaration from overseas and to prevent the domestic inflow and spread of African Swine Fever (ASF).

Unreported Meat Processed Products Detected

As a result of the crackdown, nine locations storing, displaying, and selling livestock processed products such as meat products without import declaration were identified and reported to the relevant authorities, and all 17 related products were disposed of.

Among the 17 detected products, ASF pathogen contamination tests were conducted on 15 meat processed products containing pork, and all tested negative.

Since August 2018, following the outbreak of ASF in neighboring countries including China, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety have conducted joint inspections at least twice a year targeting foreign food retailers to prevent the distribution and sale of illegally imported livestock products and the domestic inflow of ASF. As a result, a total of 66 violations were detected up to last year.