EU organic policies reflected on EU, Wales and England organic action plans for the development of Korean organic action plan

Although national and regional environmentally friend agriculture (EFA) and food development programmes such as the Life-Food Development Plan (LFDP) have been established in Korea, some policy measures in these programmes seem to be unsuitable for Korean organic farming development. Policy measures tend to support external input purchases of organic fertilizers rather than market development actions such as providing consumer information, research, education, training and statistical data collection. The development of an organic action plan (OAP) for Korea is therefore considered essential for the sustainable future of organic farming in Korea. The purposes of OAP are 1) to define and set the clear goals/targets for the organic sector development, 2) to integrate various organic stakeholders and public institutions in partnership, 3)to focus on specific issues with tailored measures and 4) to integrate and develop different policy measures (Stolze, 2005). Most EU member state countries have developed their own OAPs and each reflects its own priorities with regard to organic sector development. This study compares and contrasts the Welsh, England and EU OAP with the Korean Jeonnam Life-Food Development Plan (LFDP) in order to facilitate the development of the organic food and farming sector in Korea. Early action plan, for example, the first Welsh OAP(1999) focused support on developing the supply of organic products whereas later action plans (e.g. England OAPs in 2002 and 2004 and the second Welsh OAP in 2005) focussed more on developing consumer demands for organic products. The EU OAP (2004) also aims at market support related to consumer demand and then organic farming production for its environmental and other social benefits. OAPs not only provide specific issue-solving tools but also perform a role as providing a focus for organic sector development as a whole. The Korean LFDP provides issue-solving tools but plays no regulatory role such as policy development, harmonizing various policy measures and conflicting factors and providing evaluation tools for further development. A national-level OAP could also facilitate international trade of organic products. To achieve better harmonized and sustainable approaches for the Korean organic industry, National- as well as regional- regulatory policy systems are urgently required in the form of an Organic Action Plan.