Pet industry exporters see opportunity abroad but face steep barriers

South Korean pet industry exporters are eager to expand overseas, but seven in 10 say they lack sufficient market information about their target countries. Regulatory and certification hurdles, logistics and retail barriers, and difficulty securing local buyers remain persistent obstacles, pointing to a need for stronger government-provided market intelligence and more tailored export support.

According to a report released Monday by the Korea Rural Economic Institute on ways to boost exports in the pet-related industry, 76.8 percent of exporting companies said they plan to or are willing to expand into new export markets. Yet only 34.9 percent said they have sufficient market information about the countries they hope to enter.

The most commonly cited reason for pursuing export expansion was growing an existing product line, at 51.2 percent, followed by strategic entry into new markets (16.3 percent), expanding new product lines (14.0 percent) and saturation of the domestic market (9.3 percent). The United States was the most sought-after destination at 12.9 percent, followed by Vietnam and Thailand (9.7 percent each), Taiwan and China (7.5 percent each), and Malaysia and Japan (6.5 percent each).

In practice, regulations and certification requirements proved the single biggest obstacle. Regulatory and certification issues in target countries topped the list of export difficulties at 30.4 percent, followed by logistics and retail problems (14.9 percent), securing local buyers (12.5 percent), developing local marketing strategies (9.5 percent) and customs clearance issues (8.3 percent). Some 6.5 percent of companies cited insufficient market or legal information.

The report also flagged a gap between government export support programs and the companies they are meant to help. Awareness of government organizations and policies related to pet industry exports was generally low. Even among firms that knew about support programs, relatively few had actually received or benefited from assistance. Satisfaction was high among companies that did use the programs, however, suggesting the problem lies less with the policies themselves than with accessibility and outreach.

"To expand exports in the pet industry, it is necessary to strengthen country-specific market information and broaden a practice-oriented support system covering the entire export process — from certification and customs clearance to marketing," said Lee Jeong-min, a research fellow at the Korea Rural Economic Institute.