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Food News Clipping

January 12, 2012

2012.01.12

FAS/Seoul Monitoring of Media Reporting on Agricultural Issues

Today's Date:     Thursday, January 12, 2012

For Coverage:    January 11 - 12, 2012
 
 

1. BILATERAL/MULTILATERAL ISSUES

 

Korea-China Free Trade Agreement May Bring 5 Times Larger Loss to Korean Farmers than Korea-US FTA [Korean, OSY]

http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2012/01/11/0301000000AKR20120111192500002.HTML

Summary: Leading Korean economic institutes have warned that Korea-China Free Trade Agreement, which is currently under discussion between the two countries, would cause a serious threat to local agriculture.  Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) has estimated in its recent report that Korea-China FTA will reduce 2.8 trillion won of income of local farmers, which is 3.4 times larger than the likely loss anticipated from Korea-U.S. FTA.  Korea International Economic Policy institute (KIEP) has estimated in its recent report that Korea-China FTA could reduce the total Korean agricultural production by 20 percent in 2020.

 

2. MARKETING ISSUES

 

KFDA Distributes Free Smart Phone App that Tells ¡®Obese Food¡¯ [Korean, OSY]

http://news.donga.com/3/all/20120111/43252933/1

Summary: Korea Food & Drug Administration (KFDA) has started to distribute free application software for smart phones (APP) that help consumers avoid ¡®obese food¡¯.  Consumers can scan the barcode of the product using their smart phones, and then the software identifies those products of high calories based on the KFDA database.

 

¡®Mango 6¡¯ Café Chain to Purchase 6 Million Sq. Meter Coffee Farm in Hawaii [Korean, OSY]

http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2012/01/12/0318000000AKR20120112063500003.HTML

Summary: ¡®Mango 6¡¯, a café chain that has 40 shops in Korea, announced on January 12 that it plans to purchase 6 million sq. meter of coffee farm in Hawaii this year, which will allow the company to market Hawaiian Kona coffee at lower price to the Korean market.    

 
 

 

 

The information in this report was compiled by the Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. The press summaries contained herein do NOT reflect USDA, the U.S. Embassy, or other U.S. government agency official policy or view point. U.S. food exporters can learn more about market opportunities in South Korea by reviewing ATO Seoul¡¯s Exporter Guide and other reports available at www.fas.usda.gov by clicking on ¡°attaché reports¡±.

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Agricultural Trade Office, U.S. Embassy - Seoul
Tel: 82-2-6951-6848 Fax: 82-2-720-7921
Email: atoseoul@state.gov