G-Mark Premium Livestock Products in School Meals Safe, "No Concerns Over African Swine Fever"

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hoon] In light of the recent decline in pork consumption due to African Swine Fever (ASF), Gyeonggi Province announced on the 6th that G-Mark premium livestock products are safe.

G-Mark is a certification mark attached to premium agricultural and livestock products that the Gyeonggi Province Governor certifies for quality and safety. G-Mark livestock products have established a far more stringent inspection system compared to general livestock products.
From the slaughter and processing stages, inspectors belonging to Gyeonggi Province (civil servants) identify shipment status from G-Mark farms, and directly conduct antibiotic residue tests on cattle and pigs shipped from G-Mark farms, thereby preventing substandard livestock products from entering distribution channels in advance.

G-Mark premium livestock products have been supplied to school meals since 2007. The Gyeonggi Province Eco-friendly School Meals Support Center covers the price difference between G-Mark livestock products and general livestock products, allowing schools to receive high-quality G-Mark livestock products produced from Grade 1 eco-friendly and HACCP farms without additional costs.
The province is also strengthening safety by forming a dedicated school meal inspection TF team consisting of Gyeonggi Province, municipal and county governments, and the Office of Education, conducting unannounced hygiene inspections on 35 school meal processing and supply facilities monthly. The province conducts approximately 65,000 residue tests annually and about 500 hanwoo genetic tests to ensure only safe livestock products are supplied to school meals.
With these efforts by Gyeonggi Province, the number of schools participating in the project is increasing annually. From 474 schools in the first year of 2007 to 1,830 schools in 2019, over 80% of schools in the province are receiving premium livestock products supplies.
Gyeonggi Province's G-Mark premium livestock products supply is also helping livestock farms facing difficulties due to African Swine Fever (ASF) and other challenges.

According to livestock distribution information from the Livestock Products Quality Evaluation Service, the average settlement price for Grade 1 pork on the 1st was 3,321 won, down 14.3% from the average price of 3,873 won in the first week of October.
The bigger issue is that even as wholesale pork prices decline, livestock farms are facing difficulties in securing sales outlets due to shrinking consumption. However, G-Mark pork livestock farms in Gyeonggi Province have secured stable shipment outlets thanks to the G-Mark premium livestock products school meal support project, thus maintaining relatively stable sales channels.

Kim Ki-jong, director of the Gyeonggi Province Eco-friendly School Meals Support Center, said, "Through rigorous management of production and distribution stages and expanded support, we will do our utmost to supply G-Mark premium livestock products to more schools, achieving both food ingredient safety and securing stable sales channels for livestock farms."

Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Eco-friendly School Meals Support Center announced plans to support 21 billion won next year to supply approximately 13,000 tons of G-Mark livestock products with secured safety to school meals annually.