Today's Date: Thursday, December 06, 2012

For Coverage: December 03- 06, 2012

1. BILATERAL/MULTILATERAL ISSUES

Both strong Presidential candidates support the idea of renegotiating the KORUS FTA [Korean: BYK]

http://news.kbs.co.kr/special/specialNewsView.do?SEARCH_NEWS_CODE=2578437#//

Summary: The two strongest Presidential candidates representing the two major parties in Korea stated in their television debate that both of them do not oppose the renegotiation of the KORUS FTA. Geun Hye Park of the ruling Saenuri party stated that “As we have stated that we would be renegotiating with the United States about such issues, I do not oppose such things.” Jae-in Moon of the opposition party there are some toxic aspects of the agreement and that he would aggressively request for a renegotiations.

2. LIVESTOCK ISSUES

Harim constructs chicken plant that introduces animal welfare [Korean: BYK]

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=101&oid=001&aid=0005974328

Summary: Harim invested 110 billion won and constructed a chicken processing plant in Jungeup that incorporates the animal welfare concept. This plant will process about 200,000 heads of chicken on a daily basis.

FMD suspected case reported in Chungdoh turns out to be negative [Korean: BYK]

http://www.siminilbo.co.kr/main/list.html?bmain=view&num=314114

Summary: The report about a suspected case of FMD in a cattle farm in Chungdoh was confirmed as being negative after undergoing laboratory tests.

3. MARKETING ISSUES

Californian Orange Season Starts … Home Plus Start to Sell This Year’s Crop on December 5 [Korean, OSY]

http://app.yonhapnews.co.kr/YNA/Basic/Gallery/YIBW_showPhotoNews_New.aspx?contents_id=PYH20121205018200013

Summary: Home Plus, the second largest discount retail store chain in Korea, started to sell California oranges on November 5, announcing the start of new crop season.

Nespresso Opens ‘Nesspresso Coffee Experience Center (NCEC)’ in Chungdam-dong, Seoul … First NCEC in Asia [Korean, OSY]

http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2012/12/05/0318000000AKR20121205045900003.HTML

Summary: Nespresso, capsule coffee business arm of Nestle, announced that NCEC opened in Chungdam-dong, Seoul on December 5. It is the 5th NCEC facility that Nespresso operates around the world, and the first one opened in Asia. The center provides education on coffee by in-house coffee experts.

Brazil Forecasts Good Coffee Harvest … Int’l Coffee Price Likely to Fall [Korean, OSY]

http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2012120553361

Summary: Bloomberg reported on December 5 that Brazil would harvest 51 million bushels (a bushel is a 60 kg bag) in 2013, which is a slight decrease from this year’s record high harvest 56 million bushels but still significantly higher than normal year level. As a result, coffee price in New York ICE futures market is expected to decline 15 percent over the next 6 months.

E-Mart Offers Chilean Fresh Blueberry at Half Price [Korean, OSY]

http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2012/12/05/0318000000AKR20121205190800003.HTML

Summary: E-Mart, the leading hypermarket store chain in Korea, reported on December 6 that it started to sell Chilean fresh blueberries at half price (5,980 won per a 310 gram pack). E-Mart explained that Chilean fresh blueberries are subject to 8.3 percent import tariff under Korea-Chile Free Trade Agreement, which is only one fifth of import tariff charged on American fresh blueberries. Sales of fresh blueberries increased 96 percent from January through November this year, the largest sales growth recorded in the imported fresh fruit department. The fresh fruit buyer of E-Mart added that fresh blueberries will be a key fruit for the winter months in Korea due to imports from Chile.

4. OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

Proposed revisions to the Food Sanitation Act to allow consumers to be compensated for damages coming from harmful food products [Korean: BYK]

http://www.foodnews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=42821

Summary: Assemblyman Jung Woo GIL of Saenuri Party and 10 other assemblymen proposed a bill to revise the Food Sanitation Act that would introduce the Sanitary Food Guarantee System that would allow consumers to be compensated for damages to consumers caused by harmful food products.

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 report".

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