South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said the trial import of Brazilian eggs was intended to establish a new supply route that could be used in an emergency.
Last winter, an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza led to the culling of 11.34 million laying hens, about 13.7% of the country’s total flock. Restoring egg production takes around 6–9 months, so the government imported fresh eggs to fill the supply gap and ease price pressure on consumers.
Supplies from the United States were disrupted after avian influenza spread there, leading to restrictions on imports from some areas and the cancellation of contracted shipments. South Korea expanded its sources, bringing in eggs from Thailand in March, Brazil in July and Denmark in September.
The Brazilian trial shipment totalled about 1.12 million eggs. Authorities checked the import health requirements, registration of overseas facilities, international transport, quarantine and customs procedures, and domestic distribution. The eggs passed animal quarantine and food safety inspections.
The cost of importing eggs from Brazil was about 1.6 billion won. About 200 million won went to purchasing the eggs, while roughly 1.4 billion won covered air freight and related customs costs. The import cost per 30 eggs was 43,923 won.
This year, South Korea imported a total of 133.24 million eggs from the United States, Thailand, Brazil and Denmark. The ministry said the imports were a policy measure to address supply instability and ease the burden on consumers, not a commercial transaction aimed at profit. Any future imports will depend on domestic supply conditions, costs and the reliability of supplies.
