농식품 원산지표시의 효과 분석과 활용도 제고 방안

Abstract

원산지표시제도가 다양한 표시제도 중에서 가장 우선적으로 도입되어 적극적인 정책지원을 받았음에도 불구하고 구체적인 효과를 분석한 사례는 크게 부족하다. 식품 원산지표시제도의 성과에 대한 분석으로는 90% 이상에 달하는 높은 소비자 인지도 조사가 대부분이며, 원산지표시의 사회적 후생 영향 분석과 소비자 영향 평가를 본격적으로 다루지 못하였다. 이 연구는 원산지표시의 사회적 후생에 대한 영향을 평가하고, 식품유형 및 소비자 특성을 감안한 소비자의 원산지 인식과 단속업무의 효과 분석을 바탕으로 원산지표시제도의 활용도를 제고하기 위한 방안을 제시하고자 추진되었다.

This research was carried out under the objective of providing basic data for future implementation of a differentiation policy for domestic agricultural foods through an analysis of the operation status of the country-of-origin labelling system, its social welfare impact and influence on consumers' recognition and purchase of foods, and the effect of enforcement on labellng violations.

The country-of-origin labelling system was introduced in June 1993 for agricultural and fisheries products and their processed foods which are to be distributed domestically, and for restaurants the system was applied starting from beef for roasting in 2007 while the objects were expanded covering major items since July 2008.

In order to measure the economic effects of the country-of-origin labelling system, an equilibrium displacement model (EDM) was estimated for chili powder, bean and bean curd, beef, pork and ham, and changes in social welfare were analyzed. Analysis showed that distribution cost for country-of-origin labelling was 0.07~0.25% of selling price and the amount which consumers are willing to pay was 2.4~3.2% of selling price. Even if we consider administrative cost and fixed cost for the operation of the country-of-origin labelling system, the increased amount of net social welfare was analyzed to be 461.8~744.6 billion won.

The results of a questionnaire survey conducted on a population of 505 consumers revealed that the consumers had high interest in country-of-origin labelling for agricultural and fisheries products, whereas they had low interest in the country of origin of processed foods and restaurant foods. When consumers purchase foods through the internet, the degree of checking country of origin was significantly lower compared to the case of buying foods in the market. The levels of consumer's intention to pay by country of origin were analyzed to be 61.6% for Chinese bean ('Seoritae') and 55.4% for Chinese chili powder taking Korean origin as 100. The levels for bean curd made of imported bean were in the range of 53.5~65.9% which were in the order of bean curd made of Australian bean⟩that made of American bean⟩that made of imported bean⟩that made of Chinese bean. In the case of beef, beef of American origin was 53.8% and Australian origin was 57.7% while the price of imported pork which consumers intend to pay was 50% levels, which were in the order of that made in America⟩that made in the Netherlands⟩that made in Chile. Young consumers' level of intention to pay for domestic products was relatively low for all the products. Even in the case of same country of origin, consumers' evaluations on country of origin were different depending on items. While the country-of-origin system contributed to the forecast of safety and quality, its credibility was evaluated to be insufficient. As to the method of activation, reinforcement of punishment for the violating traders was the highest at 36% and reinforcement of enforcement (29%) and announcement of violations (21%) followed in that order.

The results of an analysis on the data obtained by the enforcement staff of National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service revealed that the business type with the highest proportion of enforcement cases was restaurants, taking up 54.7% in the total number of enforcement cases in 2010, and the companies which were subject to the most enforcement were large discount stores that recorded an annual average of 15.2 cases of such enforcement. The result of a calculation for an optimum strategy for enforcement by calculating the Nash equilibrium under a mixed strategy revealed that, at a low level of penalty, the probability of violation was significantly reduced at the time of increase in penalty whereas, at a high level of penalty, the increase in penalty was significantly slowed down. While the probability of actual enforcement was higher than that of optimum enforcement in the case of general restaurants and meat-eating restaurants where enforcements are intensively conducted, the probability of enforcement in the case of small portion sellers, feeding service materials supplying companies, and producing companies and others was significantly lower than the probability of optimum enforcement.

As the country-of-origin labelling system was proved to increase net social welfare, it is necessary to implement measures to activate the system continuously in the future. In order to activate the operation of the country-of-origin labelling system, the scope of application for the system should be improved while creating the base for operation. And also it will be necessary to review the method to re-establish the standard for country-of-origin labelling for agricultural and fisheries processed products based on the target items of agricultural and fisheries products on a mid to long-term basis, while adjusting the target items reflecting the trend of food consumption on a short-term basis. For the activation of the country-of-origin labelling system for mail orders, it is necessary to take measures such as education of relevant industry on detailed implementation procedures in the form of a manual, expansion of publicity targeting consumers who use mail orders, and intensification of enforcement utilizing a cyber enforcement team. In order to create the base for operation of the country-of-origin labelling system, education programs targeting children and youth should be intensified because the consumer's intention to pay for domestic products is lower if the age is younger, while activating the publicity to children and youth utilizing the internet and SNS which have high accessibility. Together with enforcement, it will be necessary to implement expansion support policies, such as the expansion of the selection of superior companies for country-of-origin labelling, and the connection of the system to a pertinent system, such as the product history system and quarantine system, should be improved. For the improvement of the country-of-origin labelling system, it is necessary to prepare an improvement plan in consideration of companies' burdens. For example, the 'imported product' marking for processed foods not only violates the principle of marking for imported country but also does not satisfy the preference of consumers due to big differences in the consumers' evaluation on country of origin. And also the status of country-of-origin labelling for raw materials of processed food and the marking method should be reviewed for improvement. In the case of restaurant and delivered foods, it is necessary to provide active guidance and publicity, such as reviewing the regulation for marking referring to the cases of the violation of marking and preparing and distributing guidelines for diversified marking methods to restaurants. In case the items which are from different countries of origin are mixed, a detailed method should be reviewed so that the item with higher proportion should be marked first while prohibiting to mark as 'domestic products' in case a certain level of domestic products is not reached. In the case of kimchi, it will be necessary to collect the opinions on the method of marking the country of origin for major spices while considering the method of marking as 'domestic products' only in case all spices used are domestic products. As the regulation for country of origin for attached beef spare ribs may be difficult to understand from the standpoint of consumers and as there is the possibility of confusion and misunderstanding, it is necessary to consider the method of specifying that the attached beef spare ribs are excluded from beef spare ribs processed products when defining 'beef spare ribs processed products' in the pertinent official notifications. In case imported livestock is raised for a certain period of time domestically and is distributed domestically, change should be made to clearly indicate the country of birth and the country of breeding. For efficient operation of enforcements, it is necessary to consider the method to distribute joint enforcement works of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and local governments depending on the nature of the work. As the manpower for enforcement of country-of-origin labelling for fisheries products is insufficient and the target companies are considerably duplicated, the integration of management should be reviewed on a mid to long-term basis while specifying the guidelines for joint enforcement works on a short-term basis. As the performance of enforcement is decided based on the level of punishment and the number of enforcement, a detailed plan should be established based on a proper analysis of penalty, fines and the number of enforcements to achieve optimum performance of enforcement. The level of penalty should be raised for efficient enforcement. As enforcements have been intensively implemented reflecting the interests of consumers in the case of meat, the probability of violation is estimated to be less compared to other foods, whereas enforcement should be expanded for processed meat products including spiced meat. The necessity to intensify enforcement on small portion sellers, feeding service material suppliers and producing companies by the target business type was raised. From regional standpoint, enforcement in the Gyeonggi Province region needs to be intensified further considering the distribution situation of the companies. In order to expand the base for the enforcement of country of origin, an information-sharing system among pertinent institutions should be established, and it is essentially needed to cultivate experts for the enforcement of country of origin, to ensure efficient operation of special enforcement teams and to expand the base for scientific analysis.

Researchers: Kyei-Im Lee, So-hyun Cho E-mail Address: lkilki@krei.re.kr