"Domestic Eggs Face Strict Rules, Imports Get a Free Pass?" ... "Loophole" Exposed in KRW 120 Billion Egg Imports

National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee holds comprehensive audit of Agriculture Ministry
Shin Jang-sik: "Relevant agencies did not verify shell-marking standards for imported eggs"

The government has called on domestic layer-hen farms to improve their rearing conditions, yet critics say it failed to properly verify the regulations for imported eggs purchased for KRW 120 billion, creating an unfair double standard. Domestic eggs are assigned shell-marking numbers based on the amount of cage space, while imported eggs were given the same numbers as domestic eggs without a separate verification process, even if they did not meet the standards.

Fresh U.S. eggs on display at a large supermarket in Seoul. Yonhap News

At a comprehensive audit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on October 22, Rep. Shin Jang-sik of the Rebuilding Korea Party, a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, said, "The government spent KRW 121.9 billion to import more than 130 million eggs. Only the Danish eggs certified for animal welfare were marked with shell number 2; all the rest were marked with number 4." He added, "We found that no agency had verified the area available to hens at overseas farms to determine whether the imported eggs actually met the standards for being marked with number 4."

The shell number is a legally required marking on eggs that identifies the rearing conditions of the layer hens that laid them. Number 1 is for eggs from free-range hens; number 2, from hens raised on the floor inside a barn; number 3, from hens raised in enriched cages (0.075 m² per hen); and number 4, from hens raised in conventional cages (0.05 m² per hen). In response to the 2017 pesticide-tainted egg scandal, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs revised the Enforcement Decree of the Livestock Industry Act to increase the minimum space for layer hens by 1.5 times, from 0.05 m² to 0.075 m² per hen. After allowing existing farms a grace period to renovate their facilities, the ministry plans to remove number 4 from the shell-marking system starting in September 2027, so that eggs from hens raised in 0.05 m² of space will no longer be sold on the market.

Critics say that while domestic guidelines are being tightened, imported eggs were assigned shell numbers without proper verification of whether they met the same conditions. According to documents Rep. Shin received from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), the government imported 133.24 million fresh eggs this year, with KRW 121.931 billion allocated from the Livestock Development Fund for the imports. All eggs brought in from 17 overseas facilities listed in documents submitted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety - 15 in the United States and one each in Brazil and Thailand - were marked with rearing-condition number 4.

The United Egg Producers (UEP)'s "2025 Cage Housing Guidelines" set the minimum usable space per hen at approximately 0.043 m² for white layers and approximately 0.049 m² for brown layers. According to UEP, more than 90% of U.S. eggs are produced under its certification program. Under the purchase contract, the U.S.-produced eggs imported by the government are white eggs, and the space allowance falls short of the domestic standard of 0.05 m² required for them to be marked with number 4. Rep. Shin said that none of the relevant agencies - including the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, aT, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs - had records verifying local rearing methods or space standards.

Rep. Shin said, "The government is requiring domestic farms to transition to a minimum of 0.075 m² per hen in the name of egg safety, yet it did not even verify the actual rearing conditions of imported eggs purchased with taxpayers' money. U.S. industry certification standards alone show that hens can be raised in less than 0.05 m² of space, so the government should first have confirmed whether the actual farms supplying the imports met the requirements for number 4."

At the hearing, Ahn Do-young, president of the Korea Layer Chicken Association, appeared as a witness and said, "On October 22, 2011, the farm-gate price of extra-large eggs was KRW 4,710 per tray, and today's price is similar, at around KRW 4,800." He noted, "Thanks to the government's strict oversight, domestic eggs are produced without antibiotics and under rigorous hygiene controls, and their price is lower than the current farm-gate price in Thailand of KRW 5,100." He added, "If there is a shortage of eggs, imports may be an option, but the government should first seek a solution domestically and import only when it is unavoidable."

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung said, "People could misunderstand, so I would like to make it clear that there are no safety concerns with the imported eggs." She explained that the issue was separate from the requirement under the Livestock Industry Act to display rearing-condition numbers.

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