By Byong Ryol Min, U.S. Grains Council Director in Korea

The U.S., Korea Free Trade Agreement has enabled Korea to begin buying U.S. barley for food use. More than a dozen local buyers have registered for the allocation of new duty-free tariff rate quotas of 2,500 metric tons (115,000 bushels) for this year. Some have already purchased several containers of U.S. barley for food applications.

The duty-free volumes will grow 2 percent each year with tariffs being completely phased out by 2026.

The U.S. Grains Council, in cooperation with WestBred, provided U.S. food barley samples for one of the largest Korean barley processor/distributor at the end of December last year. The samples included 1 kilogram of each variety, BG Champion, BG 012, BG 006, BG Enduro and BG 705. According to the company that tested the barley samples, BG 006 (hulled high beta glucan barley), BG Enduro and BG 705 contained promising quality characteristics for food applications desired in Korea.