The Luxembourg Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, yesterday welcomed the forthcoming entry into force of the final free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union and the Republic of Korea.
The Free Trade Agreement, deemed the first of a new generation of FTAs and constituting the EU's first trade deal with an Asian country, has been provisionally in force since 2011 following the ratification by European and Korean parliaments.
The chapters falling under the responsibility of EU Member States will be enforced in mid-December 2015 following the conclusion of the ratification proccess in national parliaments decreed yesterday by the Council.
The agreement has removed some non-tariff barriers in order to trade with specific focus on the automotive, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and electronics sectors. The FTA also eliminated duties for industrial and agricultural goods, with the majority of import duties removed when the FTA first entered into force on 1 July 2011. On 1 July 2016, import duties will be eliminated on all products, excluding certain agricultural ones.
The agreement also covers government procurement, intellectual property rights, commitments on labour regulations and includes environmental provisisons.
Since the entry into force of this ambitious agreement, the EU has become the second largest supplier in the Republic of Korea, with €62 billion in exports in 2014. The European Commission anticipates that the agreement could lead to double trade between the EU and South Korea by 2030.
Graph by European Commission
