Agriculture ministry to launch task force on stabilizing food supply amid price hikes
Eggs are being sold at a supermarket in Seoul, June 17. Yonhap
The agriculture ministry said Wednesday it will launch a task force on stabilizing the supply of agricultural and livestock products to rein in soaring food prices.
The move comes as part of the government's broader plan to control rising prices of agricultural and processed food products and ease the financial burden on people's livelihoods.
Prices of processed foods here rose more than 4 percent from a year earlier in April and May as some 60 local food companies raised the prices of their products since late last year, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
The task force plans to hold meetings with food companies to discuss ways to minimize the price hike of their products and devise measures to relieve financial burdens on local firms amid a hike in international prices of cocoa, coffee and other food ingredients.
The agriculture ministry plans to extend the import tariff quota of four food ingredients, initially planned to be lifted this month, until the end of this year and provide a 20 billion-won ($14.6 million) subsidy to small and medium-sized food manufacturers purchasing local agricultural products.
The ministry said it will also support the expansion of egg production and import 4,000 tons of poultry products from Thailand to stabilize egg and chicken prices, which have been on a steady rise.