S. Korea, Canada to hold FTA talks next week
The Hankyoreh, Seoul
S. Korea, Canada to hold FTA talks next week
19 April 2007
Yonhap News, Seoul - The South Korean government said Thursday it will hold its 10th round of free trade agreement (FTA) talks with Canada next week in Seoul.
The talks, scheduled for Monday through Thursday, are expected to focus on agricultural issues, including the exchange of initial offers on farm produce, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said.
The initial offers will outline the extent and timetable for removing tariffs to facilitate free trade. The two countries held their first FTA talks in July 2005, it said.
Ministry officials said Canada may make a strong demand to gain access to South Korea’s beef, pork and barley markets.
"Canada is expected to ask for a high degree of liberalization in these areas," said Park Chang-yong, head of the ministry’s FTA division.
Seoul plans to explain the difficult situation of local farmers and ask Canada to respect the need to protect sensitive items, he said.
Other government officials said beef could become a key issue since the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) is expected to classify Canada as a mad cow "controlled risk" country in late May.
This status technically allows Canada to export all nonspecified risk materials (SRM) meat products, including bone-in beef, regardless of the age of the cow. SRMs have been cited as posing the greatest risk of transmitting mad cow disease to humans, and include head bones, brains, vertebral columns, spinal cords, the dorsal root ganglion and certain internal organs.
South Korea had banned Canadian beef since June 2003. In 2002, the country exported 16,400 tons of beef totaling $37.4 million, making it South Korea’s fourth-largest source of imported beef at the time after the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Seoul banned U.S. beef in December 2003.
Seoul concluded talks on an FTA with the U.S. on April 2, and is moving to seal a similar deal with the European Union.
It currently has FTAs with Chile, Singapore and the European Free Trade Association, made up of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
