Intensive Crackdown on Mislabeling the Origin of 'Pork Belly, Chicken, and Goat Meat' During Summer Vacation Season

From July 15 to 31, inspections will target restaurants and butcheries near vacation spots
Up to seven years in prison or 100 million won fine for false origin labeling

The government is conducting intensive inspections for violations of origin labeling on livestock products such as pork belly, chicken, and duck, targeting the spike in demand during the summer vacation season.

The National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service announced on July 14 that, in anticipation of increased livestock product consumption during the summer holiday period, it will focus on cracking down on violations of origin labeling until July 31 at livestock product retailers, meat processing and manufacturing businesses nationwide, as well as restaurants and butcheries located near popular vacation and tourist destinations.

The origin labeling inspection team is checking the origin labels of goat meat. Rural Development Administration

An official from the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service said, "Imports of Australian goat meat increased by 5.8 times, from 1,849 tons in 2021 to 10,760 tons in 2025, while imports of smoked duck from China tripled during the same period." He further explained, "This crackdown will focus not only on popular summer foods such as pork belly and chicken that consumers enjoy during the holiday season but also on imported goat and smoked duck meat, whose imports have recently surged due to their appeal as health foods and wellness options, closely monitoring for cases of foreign products being disguised as domestic."

The main inspection targets include: ▲ selling foreign products as domestic, ▲ misleading or disguising the origin of products, ▲ restaurants selling domestic beef or dairy cattle as premium Hanwoo beef, and ▲ failing to display the origin or to retain and store receipts or transaction statements, among others.

To increase the effectiveness of the crackdown, the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service plans to utilize a nationwide team of 450 cyber inspection agents to monitor livestock product sales information in advance on online shopping malls, home shopping channels, and delivery apps. On-site inspectors will actively use verification kits to identify the origin of products. Additionally, to encourage voluntary compliance, the agency will deploy honorary agricultural product inspectors from both consumer and producer organizations to newly opened restaurants and e-commerce businesses, guiding and promoting correct origin labeling practices in parallel.

If the origin is falsely labeled, offenders may face up to seven years in prison or a fine of up to 100 million won under the Act on Labeling of Origin of Agricultural and Fishery Products. Failure to display the origin may be subject to an administrative fine of up to 10 million won.

Kim Cheol, Administrator of the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, stated, "As livestock product consumption surges during the holiday season, violations of origin labeling are also likely to increase. We will strengthen management of origin labeling to ensure people can choose their food with confidence."

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