Korea pledges to protect farmers in FTA talks
Korea Times, Seoul
Korea Pledges to Protect Farmers in FTA Talks
13 June 2006
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea aims to protect sensitive agricultural products even if a free trade agreement (FTA) is signed with the United States, a government negotiator said Tuesday.
“It is the United States that could gain in the agriculture sector, while South Korea’s position is to stick to its stance of holding onto what is necessary to help farmers,” the Agriculture Ministry’s top negotiator Bae Jongha said in a press briefing.
Bae, head of the ministry’s international agriculture bureau, said, “ Everything is on the table, but Seoul’s position on sensitive products, including rice and certain fruits, remains unchanged.”
His remarks, which came after South Korea and the United States ended their first round of talks in Washington to seal an FTA last week, are a sign that negotiations on agriculture will be tough and a drawn-out affair.
At last week’s negotiations, South Korea’s chief negotiator Kim Jong-hoon to the talks called for a compromise, saying that while South Korea needs to protect its agricultural market, there is a need for give-and-take.
Farmers’ groups in South Korea are suspicious about letting U.S. agricultural imports into the country.
Seoul’s agricultural policy is a sign that the country will insist on inclusion of a special safeguard clause and retention of numerous import quota rules that Washington claims hinder free trade.
“The U.S. wants a greater level of transparency and thinks import quota rules disrupt the flow of trade, yet our stance is that they do not cause problems,” Bae said, adding that safeguards that allow sharp tariff rises if there is a surge in imports are vital to preventing disruptions in the local market. He said that while the U.S. insists on no exceptions to the opening of the agricultural sector, it deviated from this when it signed a pact with Australia, so there appeared to be room for negotiation.
