Canada-South Korea free trade agreement talks resume

Canadian negotiators were in Seoul, South Korea from November 25-29 for the first full negotiating round for a Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since last year. The talks have been stalled since January 2013. With a new chief negotiator having been appointed since the last meeting, it appears that Korea may be prepared to work quickly to finalize an agreement...which continues to encourage the Government of Canada to achieve an FTA with Korea as soon as possible so it can restore its position in the Korean market.

Canadian beef regained access to Korea in January 2012 following a nearly nine year BSE prohibition. When the Korea-U.S. FTA (KORUS) came into effect less than two months later, it put Canadian beef at an immediate tariff disadvantage to U.S. beef. Under the KORUS the Korean tariff on U.S. beef imports is decreasing by 2.7 percentage points per year until U.S. beef is duty free in 2026. Canadian beef (as well as Australian and New Zealand beef) will remain subject to the full 40 per cent tariff when entering Korea until Canada and Korea reach an agreement to improve access.

Korea has also been floating publically its interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). To join the TPP, Korea will have to be accepted by all of the existing partners, a list which includes Canada, Australia and New Zealand...

This has been excerpted from the 10 December 2013 article by the Canadian Transportation & Logistics, and is available in its entirety at: http://www.ctl.ca/news/canada-south-korea-free-trade-agreement-talks-resume-may-improve-access-to-market-for-beef/1002773243/.