Charolais cattle is the largest beef cattle breed in France. The French government has begun exporting the cattle to the Korean beef market. gettyimagesbank

French beef, which Korea has recently begun importing, is unlikely to stir the country's beef market as the import volume will be much lower than major imports from other countries and will occupy only a minuscule market share, according to the government and industry officials, Friday.

While the Korean government and the National Assembly have approved the French imports, domestic beef providers have criticized the trade, saying the authorities should instead introduce other measures to better protect Korean cattle ranchers.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Foods and Rural Affairs said French beef imports will remain low in volume and far below the imports from the United States and Australia which currently take up the majority of beef imports in Korea. While imports occupy 60 percent of the domestic beef market, American and Australian beef together account for a whopping 92 percent of that portion.

"French beef is rather enjoyed more domestically in France than for export. Only a small volume gets exported to Asia," a livestock management division official under the ministry's livestock policy bureau said. "France's beef export to Japan in 2022 was only 30 tons throughout the whole year."

The French Embassy in Seoul held a press conference on Nov. 4 to promote France's beef export to Korea. It said the French government has begun promoting the meat to Korean retail networks including department stores and major discount store chains.

The French authority's move came after the Korean government stopped importing European beef in 2000 because some samples were found to have bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a fatal brain disease. The Korean National Assembly in late 2023 approved imports of French and Irish beef and, in June, Korean authorities approved local slaughterhouses in both countries. The French Embassy said six slaughterhouses in France have been certified by Korea's agriculture ministry and Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

France is the European Union's largest beef producer. Around 129,000 livestock farms manage 10 million beef cattle and 7 million dairy cattle, across 22 different breeds. Charolais cattle account for the largest volume among French breeds and will be exported to Korea.

French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Bertoux prepares dish with French beef during a press conference at the French Embassy in Seoul, Nov. 4. Yonhap

European beef's current market share in Korea, however, remains between 0.1 and 0.2 percent. The main reasons are their expensive base prices and low popularity among consumers. According to the ministry, the base import price for Dutch beef is $21.80 per kilogram and $12.20 for Irish beef. Compared to them, American ($7.90) and Australian ($5.70) are much cheaper.

Due to its low market demand in Korea, European beef's market share has been diminishing in recent years. It accounted for 0.2 percent with 1,135 tons in 2022. It decreased to 507 tons and 447 tons in subsequent years, with its market share reduced to 0.1 percent.

"So far, there hasn't been a single Korean company showing interest in importing French beef," the official said. The country's three largest supermarket chains — E-Mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus — said they have no immediate plans to import French beef. "It's doubtful French beef will stir the Korean beef market."

Korean beef industry experts, while acknowledging the legitimacy in the Korean government's import of French beef based on the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement that came into force in 2015, criticized the government's lack of policies to protect Korean cattle farmers.

An official from Hanwoo Association, a nongovernmental organization advocating for Korean cattle farmers, said that Korean beef will have to fight with imported beef for market shares in a few years when tariffs on major imports reach zero percent and their prices become cheaper. He added that U.S. beef will no longer be levied tariffs starting in 2026, and Australian beef will follow suit in 2028 and Canadian beef in 2029.

"When Korea imported 100,000 tons of American beef with zero tariffs a few years ago, Korean beef took a serious market blow," the official said. He was referring to 2022 when the agriculture ministry invested over 165 billion won ($119 million) to cover tariffs for U.S. imports for five months and provide them for affordable prices to domestic consumers. "The same thing will happen in 2026," he added.

The association has demanded the government strengthen its grip on livestock farming costs for Korean cattle farmers.

"Since we cannot raise the prices for our own beef, we urge the government to at least lower the costs for us, especially that of cattle feed which take up the most of the costs," the association said. "Since the COVID-19 pandemic, feed prices went up by over 30 percent and we're struggling to manage the cost. The authority should subsidize the farmers for the soaring feed price."