Gyeonggi Province to Provide 2020 FTA Damage Compensation Direct Payments

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hoon] Gyeonggi Province announced on the 9th that it will provide 10.637 billion won in damage compensation direct payments, fully funded by the national budget, to pig farming households in the province that have suffered damage due to a sharp surge in imports as a result of implementing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

'Damage compensation direct payment' is a system that compensates a portion (up to 90% of the price decline) for domestic agricultural and livestock products that have suffered price declines due to a rapid increase in imports resulting from FTA agreements.

Previously, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs designated pork as an item eligible for damage compensation direct payments in June.

The recipients are 616 farms selected from among pig farming households in the province that applied for damage compensation direct payments from July to September through written and on-site inspections conducted by each municipality and county. The plan is to complete the full payment by the end of this year.

Eligible farms can receive 6,321 won in damage compensation direct payment per pig based on the formula 'number of shipped pigs × payment unit price × adjustment coefficient (import contribution rate)'.

In addition, the province plans to provide a total of 47.771 billion won in farm closure support funds, fully funded by the national budget, to 94 pig farming households in the province through January of next year, while making efforts to minimize damage to livestock farming households affected by the FTA.

Lee Kang-young, director of the Livestock Policy Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, "We hope that this damage compensation direct payment support will contribute to management stability of pig farming households that have faced difficulties due to the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) and a decline in pork prices."