Korea's Version of 'Food Valley'

Korea pushes a national food cluster project in Iksan

chungseung, 3nd vice minister for the ministry of food,
Agriculture,Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF)

The government plans to implement a project to build a national food cluster, an R&D- and export-oriented food complex in Iksan, Jeollabuk-do, by 2015 with the goal of accommodating some 140 Korean and foreign food makers and more than 10 research institutes, said Chung Seung, 2nd vice minister for the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF).
"The national cluster project is designed to make Korea a food market hub of Northeast Asia and take a strong leadership role in the region in which China and India are expected to emerge as big food markets due to their economic growth,"he said. The following are excerpts of an interview between NewsWorld and MIFAFF Vice Minister Chung, who touched on policies to promote the development of the food industry.

Question: Will you tell us about measures to ensure the safety of livestock?
Answer: Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a preventive approach to eliminate contamination hazards at all stages ranging from production at farming areas to consumption at the table. Starting this July, all antibiotics will be banned from livestock feed to ensure the safety of livestock.
Livestock products determined unfit by safety checks at all stages of production and distribution are ordered discarded or recalled to preempt the distribution of livestock harmful to human consumption. Since 1998, when the livestock safety management regime was revamped, the nation's livestock safety has improved to be on par with advanced countries. Korea saw meat contaminated with hazardous substances decline from 0.20 percent in 1998 to 0.15 percent in 2010, compared to the United States's drop from 0.25 percent to 0.23 percent. Livestock imports undergo thorough safety checks prior to and after import.
The government plans to ramp up its food safety crisis management capability so as to better cope with food-borne illnesses and other accidents that are more frequent or involve bigger numbers. Its regular sanitary surveillance and inspection will focus on slaughtered livestock byproducts found prone to result in accidents. We also plans to beef up efforts to improve consumers's rights by facilitating communication with consumers and expanding consumers's participation.

Q: Will you explain the current status and strategies of strengthening livestock HACCP?
A: HACCP is in place at all stages of the livestock food chain, from farm to table. HACCP became mandatory for slaughterhouses in 2003 in order to regulate the use of chemical substances and eliminate contamination with microbes and other hazards in the course of manufacturing livestock products. Farms, processing plants and sales outlets have been under voluntary HACCP restraints since 1998.
HACCP has gained ground fast with 75.8 percent of livestock products covered by the regulation. The number of HACCP-certified businesses and their production coverage rose from 2,529 and 60 percent in 2009 to 3,831 and 75.8 percent today.
We plan to work out steps to boost a balanced application of HACCP in the livestock food chain from farm to table after an evaluation of the outcomes following its introduction. The government seeks to boost the coverage of HACCP by expanding its application to 30 percent of specialized livestock farms and 80 percent of livestock production by 2012. It is now drawing up a package of comprehensive measures to revamp HACCP to ensure reliability and efficacy. We will also determine whether dry milk and other vulnerable products will be subject to HACCP, considering the outcome of a survey commissioned to a specialized organization.

Q: Will you elaborate on the current status of the domestic food industry and the direction of policies to promote the industry?
A: The Korean food market has been constantly growing since the 1980s, but it has a weak industrial foundation faced with a shortage of technology and personnel capability. Korean food manufacturers suffer from such woes as a failure to realize an economy of scale, polarization, low profitability and insufficient technology investments that are stumbling blocks to global industrialization. The value of the domestic food market surged from 70 trillion won in 2000 to 84 trillion won in 2003 and 120 trillion won in 2008. There are approximately 4,000 food makers, of which 92 percent employs fewer than 50 people.
The nation lags behind in terms of technology, standing at a meager 54 percent to 60 percent, compared to technological levels of advanced countries. R&D outlays into the food industry are insufficient, accounting for only 1.3 percent of the industry's total sales, below the nation's overall R&D investments, equivalent to 3.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Korea also has insufficient infrastructure to nurture specialized manpower in the field and develop such value-added foods as fermented items.
The government has set the direction of policies to build the value-added food industry into a national strategic field by raising technological development and infrastructure buildup to the levels of advanced countries. It unveiled the "food Field Vision 2020's in February 2010, calling for nurturing five food makers each with 10 trillion won in sales, chalking up $30 billion in agricultural food exports and raising the value of the domestic food market from 120 trillion won in 2008 to 260 trillion won by 2020. The MIFAFF plans to foster 300 agriculture, industry and commerce convergence SMEs by 2020 as it strives to strengthen the food industry" role not only as a major consumer of agriculture and fisheries products, but also as a foundation industry to lead the development of the agriculture industry.

Q: Will you specify the major tasks to promote the exporting of food products for this year?
A: The MIFAFF is pushing strategies to export fewer than 20 strategic items, which are tailored to reflect each target country's characteristics. For instance, it targets Japan, the United States and Southeast Asia for exporting kimchi, while aiming to strengthen its presence for exporting ginseng to China and Southeast Asia.
The government plans to foster 18 leading export item-specific organizations into representative specialized exporting companies while enhancing the standing and availability of Korea's common agriculture brand, "whimori," in association with the leading exporting item-specific bodies.
The private sector's voluntary and joint mutual support will be reinforced through export item-specific consultation committees, like joint marketing and voluntary agreements on no excessive dumping. The related 16 export items include apples, kimchi, paprika, mushrooms and ginseng, and the addition of strawberries and dairy products will be considered for this year.
The ministry will revamp an export support regime to beef up the competitiveness of agricultural products. It will establish a comprehensive information system designed to systematically manage government support on the current status of exports, support outcomes and others.
A focus will be on exploring the Chinese market, which shows signs of growth, by aggressively capitalizing on the easing of regulations for market entry. An exporting promotion center will be established in China to be charged with marketing responsibilities. SIAL China 2011, the largest food show in China, which will take place from May 18-21, will be used as an opportunity to publicize Korean products's quality and safety.

Q: Will you introduce the current status and plans of globalizing hansik (Korean cuisine)?
A: Globalizing Korean cuisine is an approach to create new values and enhance Korean cuisine's competitive edge by publicizing hansik's perceived position as well-being cuisine tailored to beat obesity, diabetes and other adult diseases. It is more desirable to enhance hansik's superiority, functionality, convenience, localization, scientific approach and culture-oriented publicity activities.
The ministry has been implementing five strategies to globalize hansik, which were established in 2009. These efforts have begun to pay off －Korea sees the number of Korean cuisine makers making inroads into foreign markets rising and the national brand value surging.
We're now adopting a 'choice and concentration' approach of globalizing hansik so that local dietary habits and characteristics of each market may be reflected after designating strategic regions and target cuisine items. In consideration of marketability and expansion, North America and Southeast Asia will be designated as the target regions of the first phase strategy for 2011 before the second phase will move to Europe, Australia and the Middle East.
The ministry will attach priority on providing market survey, consulting, recipe standardization and other support to such foods with potential as bibimbap, a rice dish mixed with vegetables, and bulgogi, a popular beef dish, while seeking to find hindrances and solutions to localization in consideration of regional characteristics and the popularity of Korean dishes.
Linkage of the globalization of Korean cuisine and agricultural and fishing businesses will be ramped up so as to boost Korean-made agricultural food products, including ginseng, sun-dried salts and other value-added products, while exporters, local governments, overseas missions and overseas Korean restaurant bodies will be encouraged to procure Korean-made food materials through an agricultural food exporting network.

Q: Will you tell us about policies to make Korean-made agricultural foods world-class ones?
A: Since its inauguration in February 2008, the MIFAFF promulgated the act on the promotion of the food industry in June 2008 and announced comprehensive measures to develop the food industry in November 2008 as part of its efforts to promote the industry. In the past, the ministry had only regulations on sanitation.
The ministry is implementing diverse policies to promote the food industry, including the building of infrastructure, including the provision of R&D support for traditional fermented foods, manpower development and the nurturing of agriculture, industry and commerce convergence SMEs.
The government is pushing ahead with a project to build a national food cluster, an R&D- and export-oriented food complex, with an area of 2.48 million square meters in Iksan, Jeollabuk-do, by 2015 with the goal of accommodating some 140 Korean and foreign food makers and more than 10 research institutes.

Q: Will you tell us about strategies to build the projected national food cluster and attract investments?
A: The national cluster project is designed to make Korea a food market hub of Northeast Asia and take a strong leadership role in the region in which China and India are expected to emerge as big food markets due to their economic growth.
To this end, 553.5 billion won from government and private sectors will be funneled to create the Korean version of the Netherlands's "Food Valley"by converging about 150 Korean and foreign food makers and more than 10 research institutes and enhancing the domestic food industry's competiveness. It is projected to have production spillover effects worth 4 trillion won and create 22,000 jobs, according to a report released by the Korea Institute of Industrial Economies & Trade (KIET).
A national food cluster support center was inaugurated on Feb. 25 to accelerate a bid to attract investments from Korean and foreign food makers as well as research institutes. The ministry is accelerating its efforts to attract investments through five investment agencies, which were activated last year.
The ministry is preparing to hold road shows for attracting massive investments in Europe, the United States, Australia and China while striving to launch one-on-one investment attraction activities by activating a 14-member investment attraction corps. nw

Photos on courtesy of MIFAFF