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Korea - Republic Of > East Asia and the Pacific + South Korea

In September 2024, a National Assembly member submitted a draft revision of the Act on Transboundary Movements of Living Modified Organisms, commonly referred to as the LMO Act.

On November 7, 2024, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) opened a consultation on risk mitigation options for U.S. packaged honey bees as part of their process for updating the risk analysis for importation of U.S. packages.

The Philippines has been a pioneer within Asia in adopting biotechnology crops. On April 17, 2024, the Court of Appeals (CA) ruling on the Writ of Kalikasan revoked the biosafety permit for commercial propagation of golden rice and directed the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) to cease and desist from commercially propagating and conducting activities relating to Bt eggplant.

Korea’s wine import sector has been undergoing a stabilizing phase since the explosive growth around 2021. In 2023, wine imports reached 506 million USD, down 12.9 percent from the previous year, totaling 56.5 million kg, a decrease of 20.4 percent compared to 2022.

Canadian apple production is forecast to see a five percent growth in MY 2024/25, driven by a larger Quebec crop and average Ontario crop. Pear production is forecast to be down nine percent on 2023 numbers as a result of cold impacts to the crop in...

Korea’s fresh pear production is projected to rise by 10.2 percent to 202,000 metric tons (MT) in marketing year (MY) 2024/25, helped by favorable weather and lower incidences of diseases and pests compared to the previous year.

Canada continues to be the largest export market for U.S. consumer-oriented products. In 2023, U.S. consumer-oriented exports to Canada reached $20.2 billion, representing 25 percent of the total value of U.S. consumer-oriented exports worldwide.

Market share of U.S. corn in South Korea is expected to remain strong in MY 2024/25 after rebounding to 20 percent in MY 2023/24. Domestic rice production continues its slow decline as the government incentivizes farmers to switch to planting alternate crops.

Canada is the largest overseas market for U.S. high-value, consumer-oriented products, with exports reaching $20.4 billion in 2023 – representing a 2 percent growth from 2022. Canada's retail market is mature and largely consolidated, with five retailers comprising nearly 80 percent of the total retail grocery market.

According to preliminary model-based field crop estimates, spring wheat production in MY 2024/2025 fell one percent over the previous year on a 2.9 percent decline in area planted, partly offset by improved average yields.

As of October 31, at 11 A.M., the Longshoremen’s Union, CUPE Local 375, is on unlimited labor strike action at the Port of Montreal’s two Termont terminals (two of the four container terminals at the Port).