The South Korean government is moving ahead to set price ceilings and floors for food including agricultural produce, livestock, and marine products so as to keep the prices in check.

The government is pursuing a price control policy based on establishing upper and lower price limits for key food products, disclosed a high-official of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF) Thursday.

The current plan consists of employing different price limits for food products based on their price sensitivity. For instance, rice prices will be subject to a 10 percent limit while livestock and vegetables will be slapped with 20 percent and 30 percent limits, each.

In the case of vegetables, the government will start monitoring when there is a 10 percent change in prices in either direction. A 20 percent fall in prices will call for comprehensive monitoring, and a 30 percent drop will invite further policy measures aimed at balancing supply and demand.

For highly sensitive categories with a 10 percent price limit, a 10 percent fall in prices will prompt the government to resort to higher levels of intervention in the forms of government’s purchasing and adjusting import quotas.

Beef, pork, chicken, and other livestock products may be included in the highly sensitive category. The price limit may be lowered from current 30 percent for cabbages, garlic, and marinades that have high levels of consumption than other products classified as vegetables.

The MIFAFF will make a final decision on the final price limits upon further discussion with producer and consumer organizations. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF) is mulling over the option of imposing similar price limits on public utilities and oil.