The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has identified 34 companies engaged in hoarding practices during a special crackdown aimed at stabilizing the syringe distribution market, referring 10 of them for prosecution.
The MFDS said Monday that its second special crackdown on syringe distributors nationwide from the 27th to the 30th of last month uncovered 34 companies (57 cases) in violation of the "Notice on Prohibition of Hoarding of Syringes and Injection Needles."
The crackdown targeted practices disrupting distribution order, including excessive inventory retention, sales volume manipulation and concentrated supply to specific buyers.
By violation type, there were eight cases of holding inventory exceeding 150% of monthly average sales for more than five days. Sales exceeding 110% of monthly average volume accounted for 12 cases, while excessive supply to the same buyer totaled 31 cases. Six cases involved simultaneous violations of sales, storage and supply standards.
According to the MFDS, Company A was caught storing approximately 120,000 syringes—above the storage standard of 150% of monthly average sales—in a warehouse for seven days. Company B was caught again after the first crackdown for supplying a specific buyer with about 35 times its monthly average sales volume.
Company C sold approximately 190,000 units—up to 78 times its monthly average sales—to the same buyer, while Company D was found to have violated all four standards, including exceeding syringe storage by about 38-fold, sales by about 31-fold and concentrated supply to specific buyers.
The MFDS referred for prosecution 10 companies among those identified that committed overlapping violations of storage standards and excessive supply to specific buyers. Administrative fines will be imposed on the remaining violations in accordance with relevant laws.
The government plans to strengthen cooperation with related agencies to establish order in syringe distribution. "We plan to respond sternly to hoarding practices at the pan-government level in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korean National Police Agency," the MFDS said.
