Brussels, 10/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - How well the bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) between the EU and South Korea is working will be an issue of the highest importance during the visit to Seoul of Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht on 11-12 October to co-chair the first meeting of the Trade Committee under the FTA, after its first 100 days in operation. Economic operators will be given information first-hand on the advantages of the agreement at a conference organised by the European Commission in Brussels on 27 October.
100 days after it came into effect, on 1 July of this year, the EU-South Korea free-trade agreement, the most ambitious ever negotiated by the EU, the Trade Committee, co-chaired by De Gucht and South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon, will take stock of how it is being implemented. Within five years from the application of the FTA, 98.7% of duties in bilateral trade value for both industrial and agricultural products will be eliminated. By the end of the transitional periods, duties on almost all products will disappear. Only trade in several agricultural products (e.g. garlic) will not be liberalised.
In addition to bilateral economic relations, De Gucht will take the opportunity to discuss international issues, in particular the Doha negotiations, with his South Korean counterpart. He will also meet representatives of European businesses established in South Korea and will take part in the World Knowledge Forum, regarded as the Asian equivalent of the Davos forum. At the Forum, the future of trade policy and the impact of the EU-South Korea trade pact on relations with other Asian countries will be discussed.
A high-level conference on the implementation of the EU-South Korea FTA will be hosted by the Commission in Brussels, on 27 October to raise awareness among the economic operators of the benefits of this agreement. More information can be found on the DG Trade site: http://www.ec.europa.eu/trade (EH/transl.rt)