The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has postponed the schedule for expanding the breeding area for laying hens for two years due to concerns over egg supply instability and price surges.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on the 7th, the measure to expand the breeding area (from 0.05 square meters per bird to 0.075 square meters) that was originally to be applied to newly introduced laying hens starting this month will now be switched to a self-regulatory method until August 2027. As a result, the mandatory implementation date for farms is delayed by up to two years.
The government had already postponed the full implementation date from September 2025 to September 2027 last November. With this decision, farms will be able to apply the standards voluntarily until September 2027, and a penalty surcharge will be imposed for violations thereafter. Additionally, eggs produced in the most restrictive cage farming (Grade 4) will be excluded from being marked with shell numbers, limiting their distribution in the market.
The grading of breeding environments is categorized as Grade 1 (free-range), Grade 2 (barn), Grade 3 (enriched cage), and Grade 4 (conventional cage). Animal welfare certified eggs are produced only in Grades 1 and 2.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has also announced measures to stabilize egg prices alongside the institutional deferment. The price announcements of the Korea Egg Producers Association, which have served as a price benchmark, will be abolished at the end of this month, and from now on, the Korea Institute for Animal Products Quality Evaluation will provide pricing information along with supply and demand forecasts weekly. The policy aims to encourage the use of standardized contracts between producers and distributors to reflect transaction prices based on supply and demand conditions.
Furthermore, plans are underway to expand financial support for facility renovations in large farms as well as small-scale farms to mitigate the impact of the system transition.
A Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs official noted that "expanding the breeding area is a policy aimed at enhancing egg safety and animal welfare, and it needs to be securely established," adding, "we will work with producer groups to minimize the impact on supply and prices."