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Korea agreed with the European Union to scrap tariffs on manufactured products within 10 years on the third day of bilateral free trade talks Wednesday. The two sides agreed to remove more than 95 percent of tariffs on all of each other¡¯s goods including agricultural products.
Korean top trade negotiator Kim Han-soo told reporters after negotiations Wednesday that the two sides will scrap tariffs on ordinary goods in three phases: some immediately after the trade deal goes into effect, some three years later and others five years later. But they will separately decide when tariffs on certain critical products will be removed. Kim called the abolition of 95 percent of tariffs ¡°reasonable and significant compared to Korea¡¯s trade pacts with other countries.¡±
The 27-member EU promised Korea it will make no demand for wholesale opening of the agricultural market, unlike the U.S. in the recently concluded FTA. In the sanitary and phytosanitary field, the EU reiterated it wants to deal with the BSE or mad cow disease issue separately from the FTA talks.
Instead, the EU is seeking mutual recognition of the Geographical Index of products carrying the name of regions in their brand names, such as Parmesan cheese and champagne, in the intellectual property rights sector, a Korean negotiator said.
According to the negotiator, the EU said it will include the Geographical Index issue in its draft of an agreement which the two sides will exchange before the second round of trade talks. He said the EU ¡°has shown so much interest in the issue that it raised it in preliminary trade talks.¡± Some 4,000 products are registered with the European Commission in accordance with the Geographical Index and are protected under intellectual property law in EU member countries.
The products include Champagne, as the exclusive name for sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France, Cognac only for brandy from the French region of that name, Scotch whisky, Bayern beer from southern Germany and Parmesan cheese from the Parma region in Italy. A Korean negotiator said the EU is also fighting for the Geographical Index in the World Trade Organization, and Korea and the EU will discuss the range and exceptions under the system in future negotiations. Thirty-eight Korean agricultural and forestry products also fall under the protection of the Geographical Index, including Boseong green tea and Sunchang gochujang (hot pepper paste).
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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