South Korea: Violations of country-of-origin labeling for Japanese seafood have increased rapidly this year

Amid growing public concern over the discharge of contaminated water from Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, violations of country-of-origin labels for Japanese seafood have increased sharply this year. It is pointed out that some merchants may have intentionally violated the law to prevent the decline in trust in the safety of Japanese seafood from leading to a decrease in sales. According to data received from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries by a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee member (Democratic Party of Korea, Dangjin City, South Chungcheong Province) on the 3rd, there were 164 cases of violation of country of origin labeling of Japanese marine products from January to August of this year. In detail, 62 cases of false labeling of origin and 102 cases of non-labeling and violation of labeling methods were identified. In just 8 months, it surpassed last year’s total number (74 cases). ...