Market access to South Korea (agri-food markets)
- The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety allows the importation of fresh meat from animals under 30 months of age, as it is believed that cows 30 months of age or older are at high risk of BSE infection.
- For beef in particular, imports are only allowed from nine countries – Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Uruguay and the USA, while lamb, mutton and deer are only imported from Australia and New Zealand.
- Poland does not have access to the Korean market for beef and the process of gaining access has been ongoing since 2014. Beef has not been exported to the Korean market so far and no Polish plant has export rights to the indicated market at this moment (as of 30.04.2022).
- Government data from the Republic of Korea showed that beef self-sufficiency rates in South Korea have fallen from 36.5% to 32% over the past decade, even as per capita consumption has increased from 8.8kg in 2010 to 13kg in 2019.
- The list of countries allowed to export to the South Korean market is published on the website of the Korean Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) at the following link: https://www.qia.go.kr/english/html/Animal_livestock/02AnimalLivestock_quar_ins_info_eng.jsp.