Brussels, 19/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - In a note to member states trade experts (Committee 133) of which EUROPE obtained a copy, the European Commission drew up a balance sheet for the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between the EU and South Korea after six months of work. The 5th negotiations session on 19-23 November in Brussels covered all aspects of the FTA: goods (general text, customs tariffs, non tariff barriers (NTB), trade defence instruments (TDI), technical barriers to trade (TBT), sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS), facilitation of trade and rules of origin), services and rules (intellectual property rights (IPR), competition, public procurement, sustainable development and dispute resolution). Substantial progress was accomplished on services where the different parties discussed how to bring their offers closer and the sectors where Seoul is prepared to propose an offer comparable to the FTA concluded with the US. Significant progress was achieved on rules, despite pending questions in each chapter, notably on IPR. On the other hand NTB, tariffs and rules of origin remain the main stumbling blocks. Following the 4th round of talks in Seoul, South Korea re-submitted its end amended offer for the Brussels meeting, where differences have not yet been smoothed out on the value of respective offers and how to reach reasonable results. No discussion took place during the 5th round on cars, a dossier in which differences arise. The EU is calling on Seoul to agree to broader equivalency on the standards in the agreement with the UN Economic Committee for Europe
(ECC-UN) on establishing global technical rules for wheeled vehicles. Seoul called for changes in the approach on rules of origin.
Main results from the 5th round: tariff barriers. Discussion of the offers in all sectors (industry, agriculture and fisheries); non tariff barriers: 1) no discussion on the car dossier where the EU wants improvements to access of the South Korean market based on Seoul's acceptance of ECC-UN international standards as being equivalent to its own national standards. Seoul, however, promised internal consultations. Seoul also maintained demands on vehicle emissions, a dossier on which the Commission indicated its red lines; 2) detailed discussion on the complex question of compliance assessment in the electronics sector, a sensitive dossier on which Seoul showed signs of being prepared to find a solution; 3) discussions for a draft South Korean proposal on chemical products on which the Commission had expressed concerns about the approach and correlations between TBT provisions; 4) on wines and spirits, the South Korean objections to the Commission text remain; 5) a draft on pharmaceutical products that is currently being drawn up. It will be discussed during the 6th round; progress on the general texts on trade in goods and TDI (on this second point, the Seoul proposal for a specific safeguard clause for agriculture remains the main question pending); fruitful discussions on TBT and SPS questions where the two parties agreed on many questions, although part of the most delicate negotiations for the Commission are in the two key chapters (scope and provisions for TBT; regionalisation, approval of establishments and application of dispute resolution on SPS questions); notably progress on trade facilitation, discussions that can improve the text and Seoul's acceptance of customs cooperation on IPR and security in the supply chain; rules of origin, Seoul clearly called on the Commission to make its rules on certain specific products more flexible. The Commission, nonetheless, warned that any flexibility by the EU should be accompanied by tougher South Korean rules; services and investment, Seoul showed signs of flexibility and proposed an offer in some sectors that was comparable to that made to the US; substantial discussions on IPR that allowed for progress on provisions to implement and clarification of legislation on copyright, geographical indications and certain patents aspects, where a common language still has to be found; fruitful discussion on competition, anti-trust and mergers; notable progress on government procurement; progress on trade and sustainable development, most pending questions are linked to environmental and social issues; fruitful discussions on transparency, dispute resolution and mediation mechanism that have reduced the number of questions pending (scope of bilateral disputes regulation and relationship between dispute mechanisms and WTO disputes). No specific date has been set for the 6th round negotiations session. (E.H.)