(LEAD) Outbound plant inspections up, signaling boost in exports

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 6-7, 9; ADDS with more info, comments from
para 8)

SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- Outbound quarantine inspections of locally grown
plants rose 19 percent on-year in 2009 as South Korea moved to build up its farm
sector into a new export industry, a government report said Wednesday.
The National Plant Quarantine Service (NPQS) said export-related inspections
totaled 58,743 last year, up from 49,218 in 2008.
Inspections are needed as many countries require certificates that the plant life
being shipped has been checked in advance for pests or harmful parasites.
In 2009, South Korea's farm exports grew 6.9 percent from the previous year to
reach US$4.80 billion.
The NPQS said there was a sharp rise in quarantine inspections carried out on
rice, sweet persimmons, onions, mushrooms, roses and carnations.
Countries like Germany and the United Arab Emirates bought 3,655 tons of South
Korean-grown rice for an annual gain of 774 percent, with the United States and
China buying more mushrooms. Japan, the largest importer of South Korean farm
products, asked for inspections of various flowers and melons.
The government agency under the farm ministry said quarantine inspections carried
out on imports declined 3 percent to 145,638 cases from 150,669 cases the year
before.
"This was the first time since 1990, when the country first opened its market to
farm imports, that the total number of quarantine inspections fell compared to
the previous year," NPQS director Bae In-tae said.
He said the sluggish domestic economy that sapped demand for oranges, onions and
animal feed were the main cause for the drop last year.
There was a 17 percent drop in inspections of flowers, along with a double digit
decrease for fruits and animal feed.
Bae, meanwhile, said the drop in inspections for inbound plants caused the
overall number of shipments to be destroyed or decontaminated to fall to 22,746
cases, down 19 percent from 28,227 cases detected in 2008.
The number represents 15.6 percent of the 145,638 import shipments inspected for
the entire year.
For 2010, the official said the NPQS expects a rise in both inbound and outbound
plant shipments as economic conditions start to improve.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)

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