US to help Korea's egg shortage crisis

A staff at an egg wholesale market in Jung-gu, Seoul, is counting stocks that are attracting desperate consumers. / Yonhap

By Ko Dong-hwan

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday it is discussing with Korea ways for American egg producers to tap into the Korean market that is suffering from an egg shortage as a result of a massive outbreak of avian influenza.

Amid the rising egg prices due to the outbreak of bird flu that was detected in November, the department spokesperson said that the U.S. and Korea are “engaged in technical discussions to provide access for U.S. egg producers to the Korean liquid egg market.

“Imports from the U.S. could help limit escalating production costs for processed food manufacturers in Korea and shield consumers from soaring egg prices," the official added.

He did not mention when the U.S. will start exporting eggs to Korea.

Starting Saturday, the Korean discount store chain Homeplus raised the retail price of 30 eggs by 9.6 percent to 7,990 won ($6.67) at its 142 stores. Homeplus has increased its egg prices five times in a month and retail prices have jumped 31.4 percent over the month.

The latest price hike by Homeplus came a day after its rival Emart increased the price of 30 eggs by 8.6 percent to 7,580 won.

Officials of the companies expect egg prices to go up again ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday later this month.

The American spokesperson also said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is working with the Korean government and U.S. industry associations to facilitate and expedite registration of additional U.S. suppliers of table eggs to the Korean market.

"In the U.S., many government agencies cooperate to ensure the safety of U.S. egg products including the Agricultural Marketing Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the Food and Drug Administration," the official said.

Since the bird flu outbreak, Korea’s quarantine officers have culled more than 30 million birds, including 25.8 million chickens, which has resulted in the reduction of the country's daily egg output by about 30 percent.

To encourage imports, the Korean government decided earlier this week to remove import tariffs on egg products until Jun. 30. Currently, Korea imposes tariffs of 8 to 30 percent on imported egg products.