Six regional ready-to-eat food cooperatives nationwide urged the government to expand supply and improve import rules, saying tofu plants are on the brink of shutdown ahead of Chuseok because of a shortage of imported soybeans for processing.
The cooperatives held a press conference on the 9th at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises in Yeouido, Seoul, and said domestic tofu plants need at least 250,000 tons of imported soybeans annually to operate normally, but this year's government supply plan was only 220,000 tons.
The tofu industry first demanded applying a 0% tariff quota to soybeans for processing and abolishing import margins that increase corporations' import burdens. They also argued that the state-run trade structure centered on the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) should be shifted to a private autonomous direct-import system in which actual users import directly.
They also proposed that domestic and imported soybeans should be managed separately because their prices, consumer bases, and processing characteristics differ. In addition, to resolve recurring supply instability every year, they urged the government to set its soybean supply guidelines at 250,000 tons or more annually, reflecting actual demand.
Kim Seok-won, chair of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Ready-to-Eat Food Industry Cooperative, said, "Right now the tofu processing industry faces an unprecedented crisis that could force plant shutdowns," and added, "If the government delays its decision, the damage will lead to small and mid-size business closures and higher prices for ordinary people."