All Beef to Be Traced From 2010

The distribution of Korean beef as well as imported beef will be tracked beginning 2010.

The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) regulations, which assure the safety of food, will be expanded to cover 95 percent of all food products by 2012.

Prime Minister Han Seung-soo held Friday a meeting of related ministers at the Central Government Complex in Seoul and announced the comprehensive plan for food safety that focuses on these two measures.

As the first step to establish a beef distribution tracking system, the government will make it mandatory that imported beef processors and distributors draw up and keep transaction records that are needed for distribution route tracking, beginning next month. And as the second step, either the radio-frequency identification (RFID) or the bar-code recognition system will be introduced in 2010.

To increase the proportion of food businesses with the HACCP certification to 95 percent by 2012 from the current 30 percent, the government will expand the number of businesses subject to the compliance with HACCP requirements from current 411 to 4,000. The share of agricultural products subject to the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) will also be increased to 10 percent from the current 1 percent.

Along with those measures, the government plans to extend a public observer system to enhance communication with the people regarding food safety, introduce a green marking system to foods children favor, and set up a food safety policy committee chaired by the prime minister.

Those who intentionally violate food safety regulations will face a minimum of three years in prison and a fine worth two to five times the amount of money they earned by selling substandard foods.

“The government will implement these measures as quickly as possible to produce tangible results,” said Cho Jung-pyo, director of the Office of the Prime Minister. “To make the public no longer worry about the safety of food, the government is determined to raise the level of food safety to that of advanced countries,” Cho added.

wiseweb@donga.com kimhs@donga.com