The Ministery of Food and Drug Safety carried out a special crackdown on syringe sellers nationwide to prevent acts that disrupt syringe distribution and found that a total of 32 companies had been hoarding by excessively storing syringes or concentrating supplies to specific business partners.
The Ministery of Food and Drug Safety said on the 24th that it conducted a special crackdown on syringe sellers nationwide to stabilize the syringe distribution network and caught 32 companies that violated the Notice on the Prohibition of Hoarding of Syringes and Needles under the Price Stabilization Act. The government issued the notice on the 14th and began enforcement after instability in the supply of medical products grew due to the Middle East war.
The crackdown found that four companies kept syringes exceeding 150% of their monthly average sales for five days or more without selling them. In addition, 30 companies was found to have excessively concentrated supplies to the same transaction partners. Some of these companies were counted for overlapping violations.
In a representative case, seller A held about 130,000 syringes without selling them for more than five days despite excessive inventory buildup. The Ministery of Food and Drug Safety ordered the batch to be shipped within 24 hours to online malls and other outlets experiencing shortages.
Another seller B was found to have supplied about 620,000 syringes—up to 59 times its monthly average sales—to 33 identical transaction partners, including medical institution C and seller D.
The Ministery of Food and Drug Safety plans to proceed with criminal complaints and corrective orders against the companies caught this time. If hoarding is uncovered, violators can face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 100 million won.
The Ministery of Food and Drug Safety is currently operating a Syringe Hoarding Report Center and is receiving related reports. Reported cases are being handled promptly through data analysis and on-site inspections.
It is also receiving daily reports from manufacturers and sellers on production, sales, inventory levels, and distribution channels for analysis, and plans to continue crackdowns on acts that disrupt distribution order based on the findings.