S Korea, US at odds over key agriculture issues at FTA talks: official
Yonhap | 13 March 2007
S. Korea, U.S. at odds over key agriculture issues at FTA talks: official
SEOUL, March 13 (Yonhap) --- South Korea and the United States have not been able to close the gap on key issues at the latest free trade agreement (FTA) talks in Seoul, a government official said Tuesday.
"After the eighth round of bilateral FTA talks ended on Monday, 260 agriculture-related items remained unresolved," Bae Jong-ha, Seoul’s chief agricultural negotiator, told reporters.
The two sides started with 1,531 items last year, when the trade pact negotiations began.
He declined to go into details because talks were continuing, but hinted there were differences on certain types of grain, fresh fruits and meat products.
South Korea relies on foreign suppliers for most grain goods with the exception of rice, beans and barley. In fruits, South Korea wants to protect its orange market, while in meat, Seoul maintains 40 percent import duties for beef.
"The lack of progress lies with colliding principles, with the United States insisting that there be no exceptions, while we are stressing that some products must be left out," the official from Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said.
He said the U.S. has stressed from the outset that while the timetable for lowering duties can be negotiated, there must be no barriers to the free movement of agricultural products.
Bae said this stance collides with South Korea’s position of making exceptions for certain key goods that cannot withstand a market opening.
"Both sides are clinging to their respective stances and have not made any concessions at all," he said.
He added that Washington hinted on several occasions that rice should be included in any FTA arrangement, indicating that it may be hard to reach an agreement. Seoul said repeatedly said the inclusion of rice would be a deal breaker.
The head of the ministry’s international agriculture bureau said Washington is paying particular attention to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues that could effectively hinder market access of their products.
"The U.S. side has started to stress that SPS is critical because even if tariffs come down, a government can still deny access to foreign goods by citing quarantine and food safety regulations," the expert said.
Bae said that while the U.S. would have to lower the few tariffs they have on farm goods that are already low at around 1-2 percent, this action should not have any impact on moves to ship out S. Korean goods because locally-made goods are too expensive to be competitive.
In addition, the official said high-level agricultural talks set for early next week will be critical. He said if no breakthrough is made in the three days of talks, the negotiations may be extended or turned over to higher levels.
He said the deadline for the FTA talks was set at March 30.
