July 5, 2011

South Korea's food exports to Europe to increase following FTA

South Korea's exports of agricultural and fisheries products to the EU are expected to expand this year following the implementation of a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), a government report said Monday (Jul 4).

The Korea-EU FTA, effective as of July 1, immediately removed all tariffs on nearly 92%, or 1,896, of all food items exported to EU countries, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

"A more favorable environment is expected to be created for South Korea's exports of agricultural or other food products to the EU with the implementation of the FTA, following the recent wave of Korean pop music's popularity there," the ministry said in the report, without elaborating.

South Korea's food exports to Europe more than doubled from US$162 million in 2007 to US$333 million in 2010, despite high import tariffs that reached as high as 22%.

All import tariffs on South Korea's food exports will be removed within five years of the start of the Korea-EU FTA, according to the ministry.