Abstract
On August 14, 2017, a report released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs confirmed the presence of pesticides in chicken eggs in South Korea. The literature has identified various causes for the crisis, such as the lack of criteria for permissible amounts of residual pesticides, and dichotomized management and supervision systems. This study investigated current laws and enactments relevant to South Korea’s 2017 crisis of pesticide-contaminated eggs, seeking to extract applicable safety standards. Of the 12 laws directly related to eggs, eight contained a combined total of 19 safety standards. The main problems of these standards include the lack of criteria to regulate permissible amounts of residual pesticides, the lack of standardized countermeasures against residual chemicals, conflicting standards between higher-ranking and lower-ranking legal norms, and confusing misuse of terminology. It is suggested that these problems in egg-related safety standards can be addressed by South Korea adopting the internationally recognized Codex Alimentarius standard, with strengthened application of stricter administrative measures exceeding the Maximum Residue Levels in the field, using unified terminology. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the 2017 crisis to extract safety standards from the law and analyze related problems. The study also makes suggestions to improve applicable safety standards in the hope of preventing the recurrence of similar crises.
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Framework Act on Agriculture, Rural Community and Food Industry; Act on the Prevention of Contagious Animal Diseases; Livestock Industry Act; Act on the Promotion of Environment-Friendly Agriculture and Fisheries and the Management of and Support for Organic Foods, etc.; Pesticide Control Act; Cattle and Beef Traceability Act; Agricultural and Fishery Products Quality Control Act; Framework Act on Food Safety; Food Sanitation Act; Act on Testing and Inspection in the Food and Drug Industry; Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act; and Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.
Act on the Prevention of Contagious Animal Diseases; Livestock Industry Act; Act on the Promotion of Environment-Friendly Agriculture and Fisheries and the Management of and Support for Organic Foods, etc.; Pesticide Control Act; Food Sanitation Act; Act on Testing and Inspection in the Food and Drug Industry; Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act; and Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.
For domestic agricultural crops, if the Standards and Specifications Concerning Foods do not specify the residue limit standards for pesticides in the given product, then CODEX standards are applied. The same method may be considered for domestic livestock products.
A “residual substance” refers to any food substance to which a residue limit standard applies, such as veterinary drugs and agricultural chemicals, as well as their source and metabolic substances (Standards and Specifications Concerning Foods [MFDS Notification 2016-101]).
Livestock Industry Act, Article 2 (Definitions); Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act, Article 2 (Definitions).
Framework Act on Agriculture, Rural Community and Food Industry, Article 3 (Definitions), Enforcement Decree of the same act, Article 2 (Scope of Agriculture).
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Im, S., Park, D. Standard safety policy: a retrospect of the Korean chicken egg crisis in 2017. J Consum Prot Food Saf 14, 341–348 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00003-019-01217-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00003-019-01217-5