Seafood Also Traded on Agricultural Products Online Wholesale Market... Seller Registration Requirements Eased

41 New Improvement Tasks Announced at the Agricultural and Food Regulatory Innovation Strategy Meeting

The government has decided to expand the range of products traded in the online agricultural wholesale market, launched in November last year, to include seafood in addition to the existing fruits and vegetables, grains, and livestock products, in order to accelerate early activation. It will also lower entry barriers by relaxing the conditions for selling agricultural products in the online wholesale market.

On the 25th, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs held the "5th Agricultural and Food Regulatory Innovation Strategy Meeting" at the Government Complex Sejong, chaired by Minister Song Mi-ryeong, and announced 41 new improvement tasks.

Since launching the dedicated Agricultural and Food Regulatory Innovation Task Force (TF) on June 20, 2022, the ministry has selected and improved 85 regulatory innovation tasks. This meeting confirmed and announced new improvement tasks that are important, have significant ripple effects, and are urgent, based on field feedback and other proposals.

First, the range of products traded in the online agricultural wholesale market will be diversified, and the seller registration requirements will be relaxed. The online agricultural wholesale market has been operating since November last year under a regulatory sandbox demonstration exception, but currently only fruits and vegetables, grains, and livestock products can be traded. Accordingly, through changes to the regulatory sandbox demonstration exception project plan in June and revisions to the online agricultural wholesale market operational regulations, the range of tradable products will be expanded to include seafood.

The seller registration requirements will also be relaxed. Currently, only companies with a transaction volume of 5 billion KRW or more in the previous year can sell agricultural products. Going forward, the seller registration requirement will be relaxed to 2 billion KRW to allow sellers with sales under 5 billion KRW to participate in the online agricultural wholesale market transactions.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the supply of cheese, which was previously only allowed in fully packaged (sealed) form within on-site sales manufacturing and processing facilities, will be permitted for repackaged sales limited to aged cheese, reducing repackaging costs for companies. The number of posted items for veterinary hospital treatment costs will also be increased from 11 to 20 to enhance transparency in animal treatment costs.

Entry and location restriction regulations will be eased. The minimum lease area restriction in the Global Food Company Zone of the National Food Cluster will be removed to promote investment attraction within the industrial complex. For rural homestays, criteria such as area size will be relaxed and dinner service permitted to respond to new rural tourism demand and improve consumer perception by enhancing accommodation and safety service quality. The scope of agricultural and food fund management companies will be expanded to include startup planners, lowering the entry threshold to allow various private investment companies to participate.

Support for new industries, youth, workforce, and employment will be strengthened. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to specify standards and requirements for newly introduced fields such as pet food labeling standards to protect consumers and support the development of related industries. It will also improve the system to allow pet food manufacturers to settle in the National Food Cluster to create synergy in related industries. Furthermore, the registration period for agricultural management entities under the farming settlement support project will be extended by three months to enable young and talented individuals to settle stably, and related project guidelines will be revised to facilitate smooth entry of youth enterprises into smart farm demonstration complexes.

Minister Song said, "By focusing on identifying and improving outdated and obsolete regulations to revitalize agriculture and rural areas, many young and talented individuals with creative ideas will be attracted, allowing the agricultural and food industry to establish itself as a future growth industry." He added, "We plan to promote regulatory reform through collaboration between the private sector and government ministries to stabilize livelihoods and enhance public perception."