SEOUL, Sept. 15 — The Japan Pork Producers Association (JPPA) has entered into a sister agreement with South Korea’s counterpart at a time when both Tokyo and Seoul are pushing free trade agreements, which inevitably expose the pork industry to more import competition.
The JPPA signed the sister pact with the Korean Pork Producers Association (KPPA) on Sept. 14 in Seoul. This is the first time for JPPA to have a sister agreement with foreign partners.
Both Japanese and Korean domestic pork industries have nearly the same number of producers as well as the swine herd size.
But Korea’s pork self-sufficiency rate is higher than that of Japan. The Korean pork producers already have rebuilt the industry after a food-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2010.
Moreover, the KPPA introduced a check-off system, which collects funds per head for contribution in order to expand sales channels and promote domestic pork consumption.