Korea tightens tariff-quota oversight after 23 importers fined 18.5 billion won

South Korea's finance ministry said Thursday it has tightened its system for managing tariff-quota imports after investigations found importers delaying the release of duty-free beef and other goods, a practice that keeps price relief from reaching consumers.

The ministry has recovered 18.5 billion won ($14 million) in customs duties from 23 importers that held back livestock products, including beef, cleared under tariff quotas in 2022 and 2023. It also levied 383 million won ($288,948) in additional taxes on 23 items declared late, and referred one company to prosecutors for breaking the conditions attached to its frozen pork quota.

The measures follow a February meeting of a ministerial task force on consumer prices, where the government announced a package to strengthen oversight of tariff quotas, known here as allocated tariffs. The core of the plan is a list of "priority management items" — goods seen as easy to hold back deliberately during customs clearance and distribution.

The government expects the tighter rules to be in force from April, after draft revisions to the enforcement decree of the Customs Act and to the regulations governing tariff quotas clear a cabinet meeting. The plan was put out for public comment from March 18 to 27.

Under the changes, importers of priority items will face stronger checks on when goods leave bonded warehouses and reach the market. Companies that breach obligations to release goods or move them to market quickly can have their tariff-quota recommendations withdrawn.

This year the government is running quotas on 88 items, with support estimated at 1.01 trillion won ($759 million) as of March. Energy accounts for the largest share, with four items receiving 494 billion won ($372 million). Food ingredients account for 22 items worth 181 billion won ($137 million), while 13 agricultural and fisheries items get 135 billion won ($102 million) and four categories of emergency seafood and fruit receive 53.8 billion won ($40.6 million).

Support for agricultural, livestock and fisheries products, aimed at stabilizing food prices, runs at about 400 billion won ($302 million) a year, or 30 to 40 percent of the total. The ministry said it will keep expanding the program, including by setting up a dedicated system for agricultural and livestock quotas and strengthening penalties for abuse.