Rep. Lee Eon-joo, Rep. Kim Sung-won, Rep. Hong Ki-won, Rep. Kim Seon-kyo, Rep. Lee Byung-jin and Rep. Moon Dae-lim held a ceremony to inaugurate the K-FOOD Industry Consultative Committee for the Development of the K-food Industry along with the K-FOOD Consultative Committee Organizing Committee, Yonsei University K-FOOD Policy Research Institute and the Parliament International Order Transition National Strategy Forum at the Parliamentarians’ Hall on Dec. 2.
The inaugural ceremony was supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korea Tourism Organization, aT, the National Food Safety Information Service, Korea Institute for Food Safety Management Accreditation (HACCP) and the Korean Foo Promotion Institute.
Participants shared the view the private sector-initiated committee connecting the industry, academia and the government should be established now that the global standing of K-food is on the rise.
The K-food industry has been so far segmented into fields, such as the food manufacturing industry, dining/catering, system/equipment, food tech, and distribution.
The establishment of national uniformed strategies is not possible.
The consultative committee aims to evolve K-food into national strategy assets connected with culture, tourism and diplomacy by combing the knowhow of the industry site and academic expertise.
Starting with a welcoming speech by Chairperson Ham Seon-ok of the consultative committee organizing body, the event progressed with speeches by lawmakers and ranking officials from MAFRA and MCST.
With the inauguration of the K-food consultative committee and a vision declaration ceremony, the consultative committee’s role and future direction were formalized.
Representatives from sectors ranging from traditional foods, such as kimchi and rice cake to seasonings, dessert, kitchen/air-conditioning system and robotics held a joint ceremony to declare the establishment of the consultative committee.
The committee plans to unveil its determination to build a cooperative regime among the private sector, industry and academia with the the goal achieving $50 billion in exports by 2030.
Rep. Lee Eon-joo, a member of the Supreme Council at the Democratic Party of Korea, “Even though K-FOOD has enjoyed popularity globally, it has failed to have synergetic effects due to the segmentation of the industries, and the private sector, industry and academia consultative committee, making its debut today, are expected to play a pivotal role in gathering voices of the K-FOOD industry.”
“The parliament will offer full support so that agendas proposed on the spot can be reflected into government policy and legislation tasks,” Rep. Lee added.
KCS Holds Meeting to Expanding K-food Exports
The Korea Customs Service (KCS) held a meeting to support K-food export companies at CJ CheilJedang headquarters on Dec. 8 and listened to their grievances and complaints the industry had experienced.
The value of K-food exports topped $10.3 billion in the first 11 months of this year, a 7 percent year-on-year increase.
The nation is most likely to achieve the best-ever export performance this year.
During the event, KCS explained its customs administration steps to systematically support the K-food industry’s global market entry. KCS plans to improve the global customs clearance environment by globally standardizing K-Food products.
KCS decided to inaugurate major items, such as kimchi and ramen in the Harmonized System Code, preventing disputes among nations as well as improving customs conditions, being uniformed at any place around the world.
Customs authorities plan to explore products with greater export potential, such as kimbap and mandu, and launch their HSK codes.
KCS plans to produce a guidance book on K-food item classification. KCS decided to strengthen crackdowns on country of origin indication to protect K-food brand values and simplify country of origin certification.
KCS Commissioner Lee Myeong-ku said, “K-food is a core growth axis of the Korean export industry, and KCS will continue to expand support so that K-food export companies can remove difficulties they experience in the course of exporting and secure competitiveness in the global market.”
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