Intensive Inspection of Country of Origin Labeling for Agricultural and Livestock Products on Delivery Apps Such as Baemin and Yogiyo in Seoul

42 Enforcement Officers to Conduct Inspections from June 16 to 27

The National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service announced on June 12 that it will conduct intensive inspections of "country of origin labeling" for agricultural and livestock products at businesses listed on delivery apps such as Baemin, Yogiyo, and Coupang Eats.

From June 16 to 27, the agency will deploy 42 enforcement personnel from its nine regional offices nationwide to the Seoul area.

An official from the agency explained, "During the regular inspection of online sales conducted in March, 90 businesses on delivery apps were found to have either falsely labeled or failed to label the country of origin, accounting for 84.9% of all violations. This indicates that improving country of origin labeling is an urgent issue." The official added, "In particular, 18.2% (305,000 businesses) of all businesses subject to country of origin labeling (1,668,000 businesses) are concentrated in Seoul. Therefore, during this inspection period, we will deploy 12 enforcement personnel from the Seoul office and elite personnel from other regions to focus efforts simultaneously."

For this inspection, 400 nationwide cyber monitoring personnel will be assigned to specific areas in Seoul to conduct preliminary monitoring from June 9 to 13. Businesses suspected of violations will then be subject to on-site inspections.

The main inspection items include: ▲ cooking with imported ingredients but labeling them as domestic; ▲ mixing imported and domestic ingredients of the same item and labeling them as domestic; ▲ listing multiple countries in the country of origin field but actually selling products only from countries with lower prices or those avoided by consumers; ▲ failing to label the country of origin for any of the nine designated agricultural and livestock items in restaurants.

Businesses found in violation will be subject to criminal penalties and public disclosure under the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Agricultural and Fishery Products, with those making false claims facing up to seven years in prison or a fine of up to 100 million won. Those who fail to label or violate labeling methods will be fined up to 10 million won.

Park Sunyeon, head of the agency, stated, "We are conducting this intensive inspection in Seoul to raise awareness among businesses listed on delivery apps about the importance of country of origin labeling." Park added, "To protect consumers' right to know and prevent violations, the agency will also collaborate with delivery app platform companies to provide education and conduct promotional activities."