121.2 Billion Won in Fiscal Funds Allocated for Egg Imports This Year...Layer Industry Claims "Regulations Caused Price Surge"

The government will allocate a budget of 121.2 billion won to import approximately 230 million fresh eggs from overseas by August to stabilize egg prices.

Yonhap News

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on June 28, the government has spent 21.5 billion won to import 31.39 million fresh eggs from the United States, Thailand, and Brazil from January this year through early next month. In addition, it plans to spend another 99.7 billion won from the national treasury to import an additional 200 million fresh eggs from next month through August.

This means that more than 120 billion won in public funds will be spent on egg imports over an eight-month period this year to stabilize domestic food prices.

The cost of imported fresh eggs includes not only the local price overseas, but also additional expenses for cold chain distribution, transportation, customs clearance and quarantine, repackaging, and domestic logistics to maintain freshness. In particular, if air freight is used to bring in eggs quickly, the cost rises significantly compared to sea transport.

According to a compilation of information from the layer industry and government officials, the cost of bringing imported eggs into the country—including air freight and repackaging fees—can reach over 20,000 won per 30-egg tray. The government subsidizes part of the transportation and repackaging costs, enabling these imported eggs to be supplied to the market at a discounted price of around 5,000 to 6,000 won per 30 eggs.

Kim Kyungdu, Executive Director of the Korea Layer Association, criticized, "If the government imports more than 230 million fresh eggs from abroad as announced this year, a significant portion of taxpayers' money will simply evaporate."

In response, Lee Jaesik, Director General of Livestock Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, explained, "Given the shortage of egg supply, we are using fiscal resources to ease the burden on ordinary citizens and their grocery expenses. While criticism is possible, the use of some tax revenue is aimed at price stabilization and public benefit."

The layer industry has recently pointed to farming space regulations as the cause of the recent surge in egg prices. The government plans to fully implement regulations expanding the minimum area per layer hen from 0.05㎡ to 0.075㎡ starting in September 2027.

The industry argues that once these regulations take effect, the domestic hen population will decrease by more than 33%, potentially leading to a shortage of over 12 million eggs per day out of the approximately 50 million eggs consumed daily. They also believe that, as it takes about 19 months from chick placement to production and culling, the impact of facility upgrades and reduced flock sizes due to the announced regulations is already reflected in current price increases.

However, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs explains that the direct cause of the current surge in egg prices is the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza last winter. At that time, 11.34 million layer hens, or 13.7% of the total, were culled, resulting in reduced supply.

The government also countered that the farming space regulation is an essential measure for egg hygiene and the transition to animal welfare livestock farming, which was already introduced in 2018. It added that many farms have completed facility upgrades in agreement with the policy's necessity.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.