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Four out of 10 cases of false country of origin labeling on agricultural and livestock goods over the past four years were Chinese imports, according to a report submitted on Thursday by the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to Grand National Party lawmaker Lim Doo-sung. This means that of all cases, 40 percent were mislabeled as Korean goods -- although they were actually produced in China.
The report revealed that a total of 8,156 cases of goods with mislabeled country of origin were unearthed between 2005 and August this year, with Chinese goods accounting for 3,457 cases or 42.4 percent.
Of the falsely labeled Chinese goods, 2,628 cases, or 76 percent, were disguised as Korean goods, while another 712 cases (20.6 percent) were labeled Korean after being mixed with both Korean and Chinese goods. Those Chinese imports falsely labeled as originating from other countries comprised 117 cases, or 3.4 percent.
Meanwhile, a National Tax Service report on cases of Chinese agricultural goods deliberately labeled as originating from North Korea found that the volume between 2002 and 2007 totaled 9,118 tons, or 27 cases, worth about W44.9 billion (US$1=W1,382).
The most popular Chinese imports mislabeled as North Korean were bean products, accounting for 5,202 tons, or 57.1 percent, followed by pollock, with 1,518 tons (16.6 percent) and jalapeno peppers, with 646 tons (7.1 percent).
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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