S. Korea, EFTA initial free trade accord
Tuesday September 13, 2005
Asia Pulse
S. Korea, EFTA Initial Free Trade Accord
SEOUL, Sept 13 Asia Pulse - South Korea and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) initialed a free trade agreement (FTA) on Tuesday, a deal that should give domestic companies a beachhead in the European market, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
The pact signed in Geneva, Switzerland, is scheduled to go into effect around the middle of 2006 after winning approval from the National Assembly, the ministry said.
The EFTA, a four-nation free trade bloc comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, was established in 1960. None of them are members of the European Union.
The EFTA will lift all tariffs on imports from South Korea as soon as the deal goes into effect, while South Korea will remove duties on 99.1 per cent of products imported from the economic bloc over the next seven years.
(Yonhap)
