The government said on the 26th it will not provide policy funds to any enterprise found to have colluded on pork prices. It also said that if allegations of egg price collusion against companies and associations are found to be true, it will not provide policy funds and will even consider revoking their establishment permits.
The government said it made the decision at a task force (TF) meeting of ministers on special management of livelihood prices held at Government Complex Seoul on the day. Accordingly, nine pork processing and sales businesses sanctioned by the Korea Fair Trade Commission on the 12th for alleged collusion (Daeseong Sileop, Daejeon Chungnam Swine and Livestock Cooperative, BUKYOUNG Pig Farmers Cooperative, CJ Feed & Care, Dodram Food, Dogam, Sunjin, FarmStory, Haedream LPC) will not receive policy funds such as support for excellent livestock product distribution centers and support for livestock product brand management entities starting this year.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is also investigating some companies and an association for alleged collusion on eggs, and if collusion is confirmed there as well, they will be excluded from policy funding. In that case, they will be excluded from eligibility for farm feed direct transaction purchase funds and livestock facility modernization funds. The government will further consider revoking the establishment permit for the association.
To publish prices transparently, the government will also enact a law to allow disclosure of settlement price information between farms and processors for pork. Currently, the Layer Association and others provide farm-gate prices for eggs, but going forward, only institutions designated by the government will be allowed to survey or announce prices. An egg price investigation committee will be established to verify the appropriateness of the announced farm-gate prices.
At the same time, it will expand supply to stabilize prices. First, for pork, the shipping weight will be raised from 115 kg to 120 kg. This is expected to increase pork supply by 4.3%. For eggs, additional laying-hen facilities will be secured to supply an extra 1 million units per day. The goal is to increase egg production by 10% by 2030.