Construction and Management Status of Agricultural Traceability Information System of Korea

Abstract

Recently, as the standard of living is improved and the life expectancy is lengthened by social and economic growth, demands for the safe food have increased to satisfy customer’s values such as the well–being, LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) etc. As the food safety problems are emerging as social issues, the taste and quality (37.1%) and the safety (24.4%) are represented as the first considerations rather than the cost (6.1%) when customers purchase agricultural and livestock products (CRIC, 2009). As the food safety is critically considered by customers, certification systems such as GAP, HACCP, traceability management etc. have been introduced and operated to guarantee the food safety in foreign developed countries as well as in Korea. Among such certification management systems, the most fundamental method would be the traceability management system (Choi and Baek, 2009). In particular, after international outbreak of mad cow disease (BSE), developed countries such as European countries, Britain, and Japan etc. have promoted the traceability management system focused on livestock products, and are gradually expanding it toward agricultural products, fishery products, and processed food etc. Korea has followed the examples of these developed countries by promoting traceability management systems. The traceability management system for agricultural products was introduced through the amendment of Agricultural Product Quality Control Act in August, 2005, for systematically managing exact traceability information for each production process, distribution process, and sales step of agricultural products. Subsequently, the traceability management system for agricultural products was constructed in 2006 and has been operated up to now (MAF and MMAF, 2005). It is expected that the traceability management system for agricultural products could further improve customer’s reliability by securing the safety, quickly investigating the causes and taking emergency measures when problems arise. This study attempted to examine the construction of the traceability management information system to guarantee the safety of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products from production stage to consumption stage, and to describe the operation status. From the results of survey, the traceability management system for agricultural products currently operated and managed will be evaluated.