Korea to sign FTA with EFTA in July
Korea Times, 11 April 2005
Korea to Sign FTA With EFTA in July
By Seo Jee-yeon
Staff Reporter
Korea and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) have tentatively agreed that they will sign the final free trade agreement (FTA) in July, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) Sunday.
The agreement came in the second round FTA talks between the two sides, held in Seoul between April 4-8, the ministry said.
In the latest talks, the EFTA agreed it will remove tariffs on industrial products and fishery goods immediately after the launch of the FTA with Korea, while Korea promised to implement a comprehensive market opening, excluding such less competitive products as oil and cosmetics.
They plan to sign a final agreement in the fourth round of talks in July, after fine-tuning key issues in the third round of talks.
