The South Korean government stated that the new quarantine agency is set to strengthen protections already in place. It aims to protect both the public and local industries from animal and plant diseases, reports Yonhap.

The Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency (QIA) is set to start work this week and aims to prevent a repeat of previous disease outbreaks. For example, the recent foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak that forced the government to cull more than 3.47 million pigs and cows at a cost of over three trillion won (KRW; US$2.77 billion), the farm ministry said.