Young Farmers Can Sell on Online Wholesale Market Even If Annual Sales Are Below 2 Billion Won

54 Regulatory Innovation Tasks Finalized
at the 7th Agricultural and Food Regulatory Innovation Strategy Meeting
by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

From now on, young farmers under the age of 40 will be able to sell agricultural products through online wholesale markets regardless of their annual sales scale. This is due to the government's relaxation of the online wholesale market membership conditions to create conditions for young farmers to secure new trading partners and develop sales channels.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs held the 7th Agricultural and Food Regulatory Innovation Strategy Meeting on the 24th at the Government Complex Sejong, chaired by Vice Minister Park Beom-su, and finalized these regulatory innovation tasks.

Vice Minister Park said, "At this meeting, we finalized 54 regulatory innovation tasks with high ripple effects, importance, and urgency to stabilize people's livelihoods, innovate the agricultural industry structure, and revitalize the rural economy. We will promptly implement all possible government measures such as revisions to enforcement ordinances, enforcement rules, and notifications within the first half of the year to improve unreasonable and unnecessary regulations felt in the field."

First, the relaxation of the online wholesale market seller membership conditions for young farmers was confirmed at this meeting. Currently, only those who achieve annual sales of 2 billion KRW can join as sellers in the online wholesale market. Accordingly, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to revise the Agricultural and Fishery Products Online Wholesale Market Business Regulations in May this year to exempt young farmers from this membership condition. This is intended to help young farmers, who have high growth potential but are still small-scale, secure new trading partners and develop sales channels.

The allowable scope of non-farming work for young farmers receiving farming settlement support funds will be expanded from "less than 100 hours per month, up to 5 months per year" to "all short-term work." The Ministry expects that lifting restrictions on non-farming work will help young farmers secure stable income in the early stages of farming and improve farming settlement rates.

Additionally, the standards for support costs to stabilize the livelihoods of farms subject to livestock epidemic prevention measures (culling) will be made more realistic by reflecting the characteristics of each livestock species and rearing methods (such as animal welfare). To revitalize the traditional liquor industry, regulations on sourcing local specialty liquor raw materials (local agricultural products) will be eased.

This regulatory innovation also includes content for agricultural industry structural innovation. To scale up the management of agricultural corporations and consolidate farmland use, the farmland lease requirements for agricultural corporations will be relaxed, and the conditions for direct payment to joint agricultural management bodies will be eased. Furthermore, the government plans to actively foster future growth industries such as smart farms and pet-related industries through measures including ▲allowing smart farm installation within development-restricted zones ▲establishing certification standards for autonomous agricultural machinery ▲creating a separate pet food classification system distinct from livestock feed ▲standardizing animal medical information to enable the development of various pet insurance products.

To enhance rural vitality, the government will continue to rationalize farmland regulations by adding permitted facilities and relaxing area restrictions within agricultural promotion areas, and delegating farmland conversion authority in rural specialized zones to local governments. Additionally, through enacting a special law on rural vacant house maintenance and building a rural vacant house bank platform linked with private real estate platforms, rural vacant houses will be systematically managed. To foster rural tourism resources, general crop collective cultivation areas that create excellent rural landscapes, in addition to existing scenic crops, will be designated as scenic agricultural districts, and the types of sports facilities that rural tourism and leisure complex operators can manage will be expanded.

Vice Minister Park said, "To innovate agriculture and rural areas, it is important to continuously identify and improve standardized and outdated regulations. We will accelerate regulatory innovation so that the public can feel the effects of regulatory improvements."