A 'fast track' for U.S. fruits and vegetables? What to know about the trade agreement.

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A 'fast track' for U.S. fruits and vegetables? What to know about the trade agreement.

Published: 11 Aug. 2025, 14:35 Updated: 11 Aug. 2025, 18:28

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Agriculture industry civic groups and farmers attend a rally protesting the removal of livestock and agricultural product barriers in the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations on a street in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on July 25. [NEWS1]

After Korea and the United States agreed in trade talks on July 31 to improve quarantine procedures for certain U.S. fruits and vegetables, including apples and potatoes, the agriculture sector is up in arms. Domestic farmers fear that the introduction of what they see as a “fast track” for U.S. apples and other imports could accelerate the opening of Korea’s agricultural market.

Trade officials, however, dismiss such concerns. They stress that the eight-step quarantine process is not being shortened. Instead, the plan is to set up a tentatively named “U.S. desk” to actively share data needed for quarantine reviews and increase communication between the two countries.

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung also told reporters Thursday, “We cannot guarantee that imports will speed up simply because we improve communication.”

As the two countries only reached a broad agreement in the talks, detailed measures for procedural improvement have yet to be decided. Here's what to know about the specific requests from the United States and the government’s response plan under consideration.

Q. Is it possible to skip parts of the quarantine process to allow imports of U.S. agricultural products?

A. No. The import risk analysis (IRA) procedure for agricultural plant products consists of eight steps. Once a request for import is received, Korea conducts a risk analysis to determine what pests or diseases could enter if the product were imported. The core lies in Steps 3 and 4, which involve assessing pest and disease risks.

For example, if considering U.S. apple imports, officials compile a list of relevant pests and evaluate the risk level and difficulty of eradication for each. In Step 5, the two countries consult to draft a risk management plan, which is effectively the final line of defense in quarantine. If a draft quarantine requirement is being prepared in Step 6, the product is likely to be approved for the domestic market.

Apples are displayed at a traditional market in Seoul on April 17. [NEWS1]

What U.S. products are being pushed for faster quarantine review and what stage are they at?

IRA procedures are underway for 15 U.S. agricultural products, according to the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency. Ten of them, including apples and potatoes, are mentioned in the U.S. Trade Representative’s National Trade Estimate Report.

Of these, potatoes are expected to be approved first. Potatoes from 11 states, including California and Arizona, are already at Step 6. Apples, considered the most sensitive by Korean farmers, have remained at Step 2 since the U.S. requested imports in 1993 — 32 years ago.

What is the “U.S. desk?”

The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency currently has over 20 people working on agricultural quarantine. This includes 11 in the risk management division, which handles pest risk analysis, and 15 in the export support division, which coordinates with counterparts abroad. The designation of the U.S. desk within the agency has not been decided. At present, the export support division officer in charge handles not only the United States but also Canada and Mexico.

Democratic Party lawmakers and officials hold a press conference in front of the U.S. Embassy in Jongno District, central Seoul, on July 30 to protest Washington’s demand for greater market access for U.S. agricultural products. [YONHAP]

Will the creation of a U.S. desk speed up imports of U.S. agricultural products?

That is difficult to guarantee. The pace of imports depends on many factors, including pest distribution in both countries and the speed of responses from the other side.

For the 76 products that have been approved in the past, the process took an average of 8.1 years. The shortest was cherries from China, which took 3.7 years. Conversely, it takes Korea about 7.8 years to get approval to export its own agricultural products abroad. Exporting citrus to New Zealand, for example, took 23 years.

Stronger bilateral communication could also lead the other country to change its export priorities if it decides that the costs of exporting to Korea are too high. For example, negotiations over Japanese apples stopped at Step 5 after it was concluded that sterilization and fumigation with chemicals would be necessary to control certain pests, increasing costs and shortening shelf life. Japan decided it was not worth the effort and shifted its priority to exporting pears instead. A similar scenario could occur with the United States.

Will Korean farmers inevitably be hurt if U.S. apples and potatoes are imported?

Not necessarily. According to the Agriculture Ministry, 22 U.S. states already export potatoes to Korea, but the impact on domestic farmers has been minimal because Korean potatoes are superior in price and quality. Fumigated cherries are also imported, but they cannot compete with domestic cherries due to inferior quality. The impact of apple imports would also depend on the terms and methods of import.

“In this round of Korea-U.S. trade talks, we decided to weather the storm for now, taking into account the sensitivity of domestic agriculture,” said Song. “In the long term, we must increase productivity and diversify the variety of Korean apples so that we can remain competitive no matter which country’s apples are imported, not just from the United States.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom staff.
BY KIM KYUNG-HEE [[email protected]]