A Study on the Distribution Channel of Fishery Products Exported to the United States

대미 수출 수산물의 유통경로 분석 연구

The United States is Korea's important trading partner, ranking third (13.7%) in exports of fishery products in Korea. The impact on exports to the United States is expected to be significant if the seafood import provisions under the MMPA are implemented in 2024 accordingly. It is expected that documents proving production information will be required for all items when exporting to the U.S. Therefore, this study attempted to examine the current status of exports and exporters in order to understand the actual conditions of major fishery products exported to the United States. Besides, there are currently no official system and procedures in Korea to prove production information for all fishery items, so we tried to suggest implications by examining distribution channels for major export items to the U.S. In this study, five items including seaweed and halibut as domestic aquaculture items, tuna and squid as deep-sea fishing items, and fish cake using imported raw materials were selected as the target items for distribution channel investigation. In addition, this study is meaningful in that it investigated the routes from production to processing, distribution, and export of each item and identified detailed distribution channel for major items exported to the U.S.