Junggi Central Association Urges Minister of Agriculture and Food to Implement "Urgent Measures for Food Raw Material Supply"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (Kbiz) announced on the 17th that it held a "Meeting with Small and Medium Business Owners Invited by Minister Jeong Hwang-geun of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs" at the Kbiz headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul.

About 30 people attended the meeting, including Kim Ki-moon, chairman of Kbiz, Minister Jeong Hwang-geun of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and representatives of small and medium enterprises in the agricultural and food sectors such as agricultural machinery, processed foods, noodles, and Korean medicine industries.

The small and medium business sector proposed 18 industry-specific agenda items for the promotion of the food industry and the development of the agricultural industry. The attendees expressed concerns about rising food prices due to the sharp increase in imported agricultural product prices and appealed for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to actively prepare measures such as ▲resolving the year-end shortage of imported soybeans and abolishing public auctions ▲applying peanut tariff quotas to ensure stable supply of food raw materials.

Kim Seok-won, chairman of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Processed Food Industry Cooperative, who made an on-site proposal, emphasized, "The prices of domestic and imported soybeans are rising together, and the expansion of the public auction system, which is a bidding system, is causing severe cost pressure," adding, "A fundamental discussion on the distribution method, including expanding direct delivery volumes and abolishing public auctions, is necessary."

There were also proposals for research and development support for food manufacturing based on medicinal crops for the transition to a future-oriented agricultural and food industry structure and for establishing government subsidy programs for electric agricultural machinery.

Kim Shin-gil, chairman of the Korea Agricultural Machinery Industry Cooperative, said, "Electric agricultural machinery is necessary to achieve carbon neutrality and improve agricultural productivity, but its distribution has been slow," adding, "The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, as the main ministry, must actively raise awareness and promote its distribution."

In addition, a total of 14 on-site issues and 4 written issues were proposed, including ▲the small and medium business sector's position on recognizing the status of Nonghyup small and medium enterprises ▲raising the deduction rate for input tax credit in the food manufacturing industry.

Kim Ki-moon, chairman of Kbiz, stated, "There are many issues related to low-rate tariff quota (TRQ) volumes that are impossible to discuss due to their entanglement with food self-sufficiency rates, but for the recent surge in import prices and the growth of the food industry, a forward-looking review of appropriate import volumes is necessary."

Minister Jeong Hwang-geun of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs responded, "I empathize with the difficulties of the small and medium food manufacturing industry struggling at the forefront of the nation's food industry," adding, "We will carefully review the submitted proposals and continuously strive to expand support for the food industry to leap forward as a future industry."