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Korea was the 5th largest country importer of U.S. agricultural and related products in 2022. The United States is the leading supplier of imported consumer-oriented agricultural products for Korean retail industry, shipping $5.9 billion in 2022.

This report includes technical information and certificate requirements for food and agricultural product exports to the Republic of South Korea.

This report outlines specific requirements for food and agricultural product imports into the Republic of South Korea. Updates to the 2022 FAIRS Report are included in Sections I, II, IV, V, VI, VII, X and Appendix II.

Korea has a strong food processing industry that manufactures a wide variety of food and beverage products. It also relies heavily on imports to fulfill its food and agricultural needs.

On December 27, 2023, Korea issued its flexible tariffs (Adjustment and Tariff Rate Quota) list for certain agricultural, forestry and fishery products for calendar year (CY) 2023.

As the 5th largest country export market for the United States, Korea provides a promising market for U.S. agricultural products. In 2021, Korea imported about $43 billion agricultural & food products from all over the world and the U.S. supplied a quarter of it, ranking number one. Other key suppliers were China, Australia, Brazil, and Vietnam.

On November 4, 2022, the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) announced the results of the 2022 U.S. orange tariff rate quota (TRQ) allocations. Korea switched to a new license allocation system this year, replacing the import rights auction process used in prior years. A key piece of the new allocation system is that 80 percent of the total TRQ is reserved for importers with historical import volumes, while the remaining 20 percent is reserved for new importers.

In 2020, sales of the HRI food service sector reached 140 trillion KRW (122.2 billion USD), a decrease of 3.1 percent from 2019. The pandemic affected the sector harshly and most of its sub-sectors experienced decreases in sales.

The lobster market in Korea was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In 2021, Korean lobster imports totaled 413.6 metric tons. The United States was the second largest supplier, holding a 7.7 percent market share by volume. Canada is the largest supplier.

An increasing number of Korean customers are making values-based consumption decisions. Korean customers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products.

This report outlines the specific requirements for food and agricultural product imports into the Republic of South Korea. Updates to the 2022 FAIRS Report are included in Sections V, VI, VII and Appendix II.

This report includes technical information and certificate requirements for food and agricultural product exports to the Republic of South Korea.