Chinese Carnations Sold as Domestic... 72 Flower Businesses Caught Violating Country-of-Origin Labeling Last Month

As demand for flowers increased this month due to Parents' Day and Teachers' Day, some businesses were caught selling Chinese carnations disguised as domestically produced ones.

The National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service announced on May 25 that it had conducted an inspection of country-of-origin labeling at flower wholesale markets, flower retailers, online sellers, and large supermarkets across the country in celebration of Family Month in May, and detected 72 businesses (73 cases) in violation.

An official from the agency stated, "More than 40% of the annual import volume occurs in April and May, as demand for flowers surges around Parents' Day (May 8) and Teachers' Day (May 15). In this crackdown, we focused on detecting false or missing country-of-origin labeling for cut flowers such as carnations."

The agency utilized honorary consumer group monitors for this inspection and carried out a country-of-origin labeling campaign at flower wholesale markets. It also distributed a guidebook on country-of-origin labeling for flowers to flower distribution and sales businesses.

According to the results, the most frequently violated item was carnations with 65 cases (89.0%), followed by chrysanthemums with 3 cases (4.1%), baby's breath with 3 cases (4.1%), gerbera with 1 case (1.4%), and tulips with 1 case (1.4%).

According to the agency, a flower shop located in Daegu displayed and sold both domestic and Chinese carnations together, labeling them in a way that could mislead consumers into believing all were domestic. A flower shop in Ulsan falsely labeled Chinese carnations as domestic when selling them online. Among the businesses caught, three that sold Chinese carnations as domestic were referred for criminal prosecution. For the 69 businesses caught for failing to label the country of origin, a total of 3,573,000 won in fines was imposed.

Park Sunyeon, head of the agency, stated, "We plan to continue guidance and promotional activities for country-of-origin labeling to protect domestic flower producers and consumers." She added, "In June, we plan to conduct an inspection of country-of-origin labeling on delivery applications (apps) for online flower sales in the Seoul metropolitan area."