Brussels, 13/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - European and South Korean negotiators were due to meet in Brussels on 13 May for the 7th round of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. This latest meeting follows the meeting between Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon in Tokyo in April, to relaunch talks which have proved much more difficult than expected (see EUROPE 9569 and 9577). “For the EU, the main remaining issues in the negotiations centre on industrial tariffs liberalisation, behind-the-border issues such as standards and certification in industries such as electronics and automotive and liberalisation in different service sectors in Korea,” the Commission says in a press release. While they have already brought agreement on other chapters of the negotiations, such as sustainable development, antitrust and merger aspects of competition policy, transparency of domestic regulation and bilateral dispute settlement mechanisms, the talks, opened in May 2007, continue to founder on the speed with which the two parties are prepared to get rid of the customs duties which they apply to the other's goods. The aim is to remove tariff barriers within seven years, but Europeans and South Koreans are divided on how far to go in removing these barriers within three years. The Commission has proposed removing tariffs on 80% of imported goods by that date, but Seoul has suggested only 68%. Apart from trade barriers, discussions are also failing particularly on the liberalisation of services, non-tariff barriers in the automotive sector and rules of origin. (E.H.)