Reviewing Application of Tariff Quotas on Agricultural Products... Managing Major Items as Chuseok Seasonal Goods

On the 25th, as vegetable and fruit prices rise due to the heatwave and monsoon season, citizens are shopping at a large supermarket in Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The government is considering expanding the application of tariff quotas on certain agricultural products.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and related departments on the 7th, the government plans to announce a Chuseok livelihood stabilization measure including this content within this week. The Chuseok livelihood stabilization measure is expected to focus on managing prices of holiday seasonal products. As prices of vegetables and other items have surged, the inflation rate of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products reached 7.1%, the highest in seven months, causing food prices to soar continuously.

The government plans to classify and manage major agricultural, livestock, and fishery products such as cabbage, radish, onion, garlic, potato, apple, pear, chestnut, beef, pork, chicken, pollock, and squid as Chuseok seasonal products. In addition, items with rapidly rising prices may be additionally designated as special management items.

The government is also considering applying additional tariff quotas to some agricultural products among the seasonal and special management items. This is intended to lower import prices by applying tariff quotas to agricultural products, similar to the 0% tariff quota previously applied to livestock products such as beef, pork, and chicken. Currently, tariff quotas are already applied to items such as green onions, feed barley, oats, corn, oil-use soybeans, and chip-use potatoes.

The government is also reviewing additional measures to stabilize agricultural product prices, such as supplying imported cabbage through the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) to companies producing cabbage processed products like kimchi. For seasonal products, the government plans to increase supply volumes before and after the holiday through stockpiles and actively conduct discount events.