Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Intensively Investigate Illegal Origin Labeling of Pork

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police will conduct an intensive investigation from August 25 to 31 on 'illegal origin labeling practices' where imported or inland pork is deceptively sold as Jeju pork, which is highly popular among consumers.

'Origin of agricultural and fishery products' refers to the country, region, or waters where agricultural and fishery products are produced, harvested, or caught. When the origin of livestock products is designated by region, the accurate regional name must be indicated as the origin for sale and provision.

The investigation targets not only grilled meat specialty restaurants and Jeju pork specialty restaurants within the province, but also delivery-only restaurants, considering the increase in non-face-to-face consumption due to COVID-19.

The main investigation areas include ▲false or misleading origin labeling (up to 7 years imprisonment or up to 100 million won in fines) ▲violation of storage standards for refrigerated or frozen products (up to 5 years imprisonment or up to 50 million won in fines) ▲cooking, selling, or storing expired products (up to 3 years imprisonment or up to 30 million won in fines).

The province explained that it planned this investigation because, while livestock product origin inspections have so far focused intensively on practices concealing imported products as domestic with false country names, management of regional name deception may be relatively lax.

Through advance information gathering, the province identified that some restaurants were misrepresenting the regional origin of pork.

In particular, Jeju pork commands high regional recognition due to its clean image and is sold at premium prices compared to inland pork due to its scarcity.
With slaughter volumes decreasing and regional demand increasing, prices are rising, and the number of specialty restaurants continues to grow, leading the province to predict that some restaurants may be selling imported or inland pork while fraudulently labeling it as Jeju pork.

The Special Judicial Police of Gyeonggi Province will thoroughly investigate unfair profits obtained through illegal and misleading labeling and other unfair trading practices at businesses found in violation, and will forward them to prosecutors and notify the relevant administrative agencies.

Yun Tae-wan, Director of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police, said, "The practice of deceiving consumers by misrepresenting origin to obtain unfair profits is a very unjust act, and we will do our best to ensure that illegal practices are eradicated."