주요 농자재의 표시실태와 문제, 개선방안

Abstract

<발주처:농림부>

Ⅰ. Title

Improvement in the Management Institution of Agricultural Inputs

Ⅱ. Necessity and Objectives of the Study

The purpose of product labeling is to provide information about products to enable consumers to select appropriate products, protect consumers from possible injuries or dangers from the misuse of products, and make the environment for fair competition among business enterprises. For the theoretical benefits of labeling as described above, labels must have systemic standards. Thus, it is necessary to analyze the current labeling systems. This study aims to propose a label management system for agricultural inputs and analyze the responses from farmers in order to organize labeling standards that can effectively provide needed information to consumers.

Ⅲ. Results and Suggestions

This research is focused on the labeling of primary agricultural inputs, such as agricultural chemicals, fertilizer, and seeds, with an emphasis on the current labeling institution and proposed solutions to the problems of the current labeling systems. First of all, the legal standard and its enforcement of agricultural input labeling were researched closely. Secondly, the labeling problems and improvements from the farmers' perspective were approached. Thirdly, this study analyzed the results of a survey of farmers. Fourthly, this research attempted to evaluate the Japanese standards and suggested directions for the development of labeling systems. Finally, as described above, methods to improve the labeling systems for primary agricultural inputs are proposed. However, fodder and farming equipment were excluded from the scope of this research. Accidents and damages arising from mislabelling of agricultural inputs, such as agricultural chemicals, fertilizer, and seeds, are not only limited to products but they are also extended to farmers as well. Agricultural chemicals cause poisoning by ingestion, diseases from products, and other various accidents due to improper labeling. Fertilizers cause accidents due to the lack of needed information, and labels on imported fertilizers do not contain required information. Seeds can cause damages from false information and from the introduction of new species that were not inspected. The most problematic aspect of the cases of such damages or accidents is that evaluating the cause and the amount of compensation is not easy. Therefore, the labeling of proper information is the most effective preventive measure for the accidents and damages caused by mislabeling of agricultural inputs.

According to the agricultural chemicals regulation law, the Rural Development Administration administers many tasks, including the registration and cancellation of manufacturers and marketers. Import and export of plants are regulated by the National Plant Quarantine Service. Fertilizers take center stage in the role of the fertilizer processing standards examination committee of the Rural Development Administration. The preservation, production, and the supply and distribution of seeds are the tasks performed by the National Seed Management Office.

The survey results were as follows: the contents of labels and advertisements were not easy to recognize (50%), the color of the font and the background color are not distinguishable (32%), and labels are attached on surfaces not easily noticeable (14%). In particular, the contents are not easy to understand because labels contain a lot of technical terms. The components of “effectiveness” and “specific characteristics” need to be added to the labels of agricultural chemicals. For fertilizer, product type, amount of use, and usage period are required. Also, labeling of fertilizer has a problem that the “country of origin” for products is mostly absent. The labels for seeds have a too-small font to be easily read; and they usually didn't have country of origin, usage period, growing method for a given region and time period, and the price. The institutions of labeling for agricultural chemicals and fertilizer in Korea and Japan are similar. However, the usage period of agricultural chemicals in the case of Japan is limited to 3 years; on the other hand, the usage period in Korea is extended to 10 years. In the case of seed labels, Korea and Japan differ from each other as there is no “quality label” and information of country of origin in Korean labels. Therefore, it is imperative, for the improvement of labeling for major agricultural inputs, that the government policy should reflect the demand of farmers and make up the weak points in terms of label accessibility, label contents, and final product sales price.