S. Korea, US remain divided in FTA agriculture talks
The Hankyoreh, Seoul
S. Korea, U.S. remain divided in FTA agriculture talks
19 March 2007
Yonhap News. Agriculture free trade talks between South Korea and the United States remained in a stalemate on Monday as neither side made any concessions on critical issues, South Korean negotiators said.
In closed-door negotiations, Seoul continued to call for Washington to make an exception to the liberalization of the local agricultural market in order to protect local farmers from a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
However, the U.S. side would not budge an inch, saying the FTA has no room for exceptions.
Monday’s talks came hours before top South Korean and U.S. officials were scheduled to meet in Washington behind closed doors, determined to clear last-minute hurdles to the FTA before an end-of-March deadline.
Both sides concurred on the need for flexibility to reach a deal, indicating that last-minute concession were possible, said the agriculture ministry.
The two sides opened three days of talks early Monday to try to narrow differences on a range of outstanding farm products, including rice, oranges, pork and pears. Rice is the Korean staple food.
Assistant Agriculture Minister Min Dong-seok represents South Korea at the talks, while the U.S. delegation is led by Richard Crowder, the chief agriculture negotiator for the U.S. trade office.
Also on the table is a trade row over U.S. beef imports to South Korea. In a 2006 deal, South Korea agreed to buy only boneless U.S. beef, but later turned back three shipments totaling 22.3 tons after bone chips were found in them.
South Korean officials defended their actions as prompted by a mad cow scare, but U.S. officials accused Seoul of using it as a pretext to block U.S. beef imports as a whole.
U.S. officials warned that Congress would not support a deal with South Korea unless its beef market is fully opened. Before its import ban on U.S. beef in 2003, South Korea was Washington’s third-largest market in the world, with annual purchases reaching US$840 million.
