Research Report
A Study on Global Regulations Trends and Legal Response to Strengthen Food Security
Ⅰ. Background and Purpose
▶ Necessity of Research
○ Need to respond to food crisis due to supply chain crisis and abrupt climate change.
- As the crisis surrounding the food supply chain intensified due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the world is paying attention to the situation where food security is threatened.
- Since climate change has a direct impact on the decline in food production, efforts to respond to climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural sector are also required to achieve carbon neutrality.
○ The international community continues to discuss ways to strengthen food security and respond to related crises.
- International organizations such as the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the European Union (EU) are trying to find how to respond to the food crisis and long-term policy directions in the agricultural sector to overcome it.
- Individual countries are also considering response to food crisis, agricultural sustainability, etc., through the enactment and revision of various laws related to food security.
○ Need to prepare for many causes of threats to the supply of food and for chronic food crisis.
- Due to the continuous decline in farm population and agricultural land area, the basis for food production is weakening, and the food self-sufficiency rate is continuously decreasing. There is a need to prepare for the continuous food crisis due to the diversification of factors that threaten food security.
- However, there is insufficient discussion on how to view the scope of food security and what needs to be supplemented to strengthen food security at the legal level, so research is needed to ensure the effectiveness of domestic legislation and policy establishment.
▶ Purpose of the Research
○ By analyzing the current status of legislation and related discussions of international organizations and major countries on food security, we draw implications that can be referred to for the improvement of domestic legislation.
- Among international organizations and countries with a high global food security index, the analysis targets were the United States, Germany, and China, which have separate laws governing food security; the United Kingdom, which has a high global food security index but a low food self-sufficiency rate; and Japan, which has a legal system similar to that of Korea.
○ Through the review of domestic legislation, legal countermeasures to strengthen food security were sought.
Ⅱ. Main Content
▶ The concept of food security and need for its reinforcement
○ The concept of food security.
- Food security is a variable concept that can be defined differently depending on each country's situation, such as self-sufficiency, but due to supply chain crises such as COVID-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the focus is on food security in the quantitative aspect.
- Food security must be approached conceptually, taking into account that it is not a short-term goal but a long-term goal that the country must pursue.
- Food security includes both quantitatively sufficient supply and qualitative consideration of people's nutrition and health, and it is appropriate to understand that it reflects the perspective of sustainability in the food sector.
○ Necessity to strengthen food security.
- In the past, the food crisis occurred mainly due to a decrease in production caused by temporary climate abnormalities in grain-producing countries, leading to a sharp rise in prices, whereas the recent food crisis occurred due to complex factors such as supply chain crisis, climate crisis, and implementation of carbon neutrality, so food security should be strengthened to respond to the new food security crisis actively.
- Given the situation in Korea, where the food self-sufficiency rate is low, the food supply chain may become unstable at any time due to the global crisis, so food security should be strengthened to secure food sovereignty, not just to secure the quantity of food.
▶ Global regulations trends related to food security
○ Trends in food security discussions conducted by international organizations.
- The UN is emphasizing the transition to a sustainable food system through the 2021 UN Food System Summit
- The UN Food and Agriculture Organization is making efforts to end hunger and improve nutrition and emphasizes the importance of sustainable agriculture and food systems.
- The WTO acknowledged that food insecurity is a threat to world peace and security through the 12th Ministerial Meeting of the WTO, and requested WTO Member States to take emergency measures to resolve this issue.
- The European Union has established a new joint agricultural policy that takes into account social, economic, and environmental changes, such as the realization of sustainable development goals and carbon neutrality goals, and considers sustainability in the entire process of producing, distributing, and consuming food through the Farm to Fork strategy.
- Food security discussions at the international organization level highlight the sustainability of the agri-food sector in addition to addressing pending issues such as the end of hunger.
○ Trends in food security legislation in major countries.
- Each State has a legal approach in consideration of its own food security situation.
- According to the analysis of legislation in major countries related to food security, it can be confirmed that, to strengthen food security, (1) the provision of relevant information is specified, and (2) the relevant legislation is being improved through various approaches in addition to the traditional food stockpiling policy.
○ Implications through analysis of global regulations related to food security.
- To strengthen food security, it is necessary to monitor information related to a stable supply of food in the short term, and it is necessary to promote the policies to switch to a sustainable food system in the long term.
▶ Problems of the current food security legislation
○ Poor operation of the public expenditure system and the absence of related regulations.
- Despite the legal basis for the public reserve system, the proper stockpile management of wheat and beans has not been adequately carried out due to the rice-focusing operation of public reserve system.
- Although details about the stockpiling and operation of government-purchased grain and the standards for market prices referred to in Article 10 (4) of the Grain Management Act are delegated to subordinate statutes, there are no regulations on stockpiling and operation other than the standards for market prices.
○ Insufficient food crisis monitoring system.
- To manage the food crisis, the International Grain Crisis Response Implementation Manual is in place, but it has a limit in applying to the crisis caused by problems related to domestic food supply and demand.
○ Lack of adequate farmland objectives and management plans.
- The current laws clarify that farmland is the basis for food supply and environmental conservation. Self-sufficiency goals for food have been established, appropriate farmland goals have not been to achieve self-sufficiency goals.
▶ Legislative countermeasures to strengthen food security
○ Discussion on the enactment of an individual Act on food security.
- Changes in various conditions related to food supply and demand have raised the need for independent legislation to strengthen food security.
- A bill of the Special Act on Food Security proposed in June 2023 has limitations in that (1) the concept of food security is approached from the traditional perspective of quantitative supply, (2) many provisions overlap with related laws regarding food security, so there is little practical benefit to enact it as a separate law, and (3) some provisions of the bill lack propriety in terms of content.
○ Measures to cope with the revision of individual acts related to food security.
- Given that there are many current laws related to food security, at this point, individual law-oriented countermeasures are appropriate.
- To prepare for the food crisis in advance, the basis for collecting information for constant monitoring, etc. shall be established in the Framework Act on Agricultural Foods.
- Grounds for the establishment and management of appropriate farmland targets and support for the conservation of superior farmland shall be prepared in the Farmland Act.
- A subordinate statute that embodies the matters concerning the stockpiling and operation of government-purchased grain under the delegation of Article 10 (4) of the Grain Management Act, which is the legal basis for the public expenditure festival system, shall be prepared.
- In the long run, it is also possible to consider revising the Framework Act on Agricultural Food by approaching food security policies from the perspective of converting them into a sustainable food system.
Ⅲ. Expected Effect
▶ Preparation of countermeasures to domestic legislation related to food security based on global regulative discussions
○ Food security is not only about securing the minimum amount of food, but also affecting the agricultural and food industry and rural communities, and the international challenge of sustainable development.
○ Analysis of trends in global regulations related to food crisis response can be used as primary data for the improvement of related domestic legislation to strengthen food security.