South Korea: Introduction of seaweed quality control system in Jeonnam Province

Jeonnam Province announced that it has begun implementing the Jeonnam-type dried seaweed quality control system to improve the quality and secure price competitiveness of Jeonnam-produced seaweed as part of its key project, ‘Achieving $300 million in seaweed exports.’ Seaweed is the No. 1 export item for domestic seafood. Last year, total export volume continued to increase, exceeding 1 trillion won. Jeonnam, which accounts for 78% of national seaweed production, has great growth potential to lead the global seaweed industry. However, in the international market, Japanese dried seaweed costs 10,000 won per cob, Chinese dried seaweed costs 6,000 won, and Korean dried seaweed costs 4,000 won. The price of Korean dried seaweed is relatively undervalued in overseas markets due to the lack of quality control standards. Accordingly, Jeonnam Province strengthened the hygiene and quality control standards for dried seaweed and conducted a research service on the Jeonnam-type dried seaweed ...