한•호주 자유무역협정(FTA)이 사실상 타결됨에 따라 국내 축산업계의 피해가 불가피할 전망이다.
지난해 기준 호주와 농축수산 분야 교역액은 29억9천300만 달러. 수입액은 28억 8천800만 달러에 달하지만, 수출액은 1억600만 달러에 그쳤다. 농축수산 분야에서만 27억8천만 달러의 적자를 본 것이다.
특히 지난해 가축 육류 수입금액은 7억8천만달러에 달한다.
이런 가운데 한•호주 FTA로 관세장벽이 철폐되거나 낮아지면 축산 분야의 무역 역조는 더욱 깊어질 수밖에 없을 것으로 보인다.
특히 국내 축산농가에는 직접적인 타격이 될 것이라는 우려가 나오고 있다.
산업통상자원부는 5일 "쇠고기와 낙농품은 한-미 FTA보다도 더 보수적인, 말하자면 더 좋은 조건에서 막아냈다"며 축산 농가의 피해를 최소화하는 데 주력했음을 강조했다.
윤상직 산업부 장관은 쇠고기에 대해선 15년 관세철폐 양허 및 농산물 세이프가드를 통해 시장 개방에 따른 국내 영향을 최소화하기로 했다고 설명했다.
그러나 수입 쇠고기 시장에서 점유율 1위인 호주산의 관세가 단계적으로 철폐되면 국내 축산농가에 미칠 영향이 적지 않다.
지난달 기준 호주산 쇠고기의 국내 수입 쇠고기 시장 점유율은 56.9%로 미국(38 .9%), 뉴질랜드(3.5%)를 크게 앞섰다.
실제 한•미 FTA 체결로 국내 한우 송아지 가격이 내려가자 농식품부는 올해 처음 한우 농가에 FTA 피해보전 직불금을 지급하기도 했다.
농식품부에 따르면 한미 FTA 체결 이후 미국산 쇠고기 수입량은 과거 5개년도 평균 수입량보다 53.6% 증가했으며, 국내 한우 가격은 과거 5개년도 평균가격보다 11%, 송아지 가격은 31%가량 떨어졌다.
미국산보다 국내 점유율이 높은 호주산 쇠고기의 관세가 단계적으로 철폐되면 국내 한우 가격 하락 폭은 더 커질 것이라는 게 중론이다.
이에 따라 농식품부는 협상결과를 토대로 농가 피해를 분석하고 대책 마련에 나설 방침이다.
농식품부 관계자는 "기존 FTA 대책을 점검•보완하고 협상 결과에 따른 영향 분 석을 토대로 신규 사업 등의 추진을 검토하겠다"고 말했다.
이 관계자는 "같은 영연방 국가인 캐나다•뉴질랜드와도 곧 FTA가 타결될 것으로 예상된다"며 "캐나다와 뉴질랜드 역시 축산강국인 점을 고려해 호주•캐나다•뉴질랜드 등 3개국 FTA의 보완 대책을 종합적으로 검토하겠다"고 덧붙였다.
그러나 농민단체들은 이미 한•호주 FTA 체결에 따른 대책을 요구하고 나섰다.
한국농업경영인 중앙연합회는 "한•호주 FTA 체결로 국내 축산 농가의 생존기반이 무너질 지경"이라며 "개방에 앞서 국내 농축산업계의 생존대책부터 마련하라"고 촉구했다.
<관련 영문 기사>
Korea, Australia agree trade pact
Car tariffs to be lifted immediately after effectuation, beef barrier to be phased out over 10-15 years
By Bae Hyun-jung
Korea and Australia have reached a free trade agreement after resolving controversial issues over beef and an investor-state dispute settlement clause, trade officials in Seoul said Thursday.
The FTA, which was virtually concluded Wednesday during the trade ministers’ talks in Bali, Indonesia, will be the Park Geun-hye administration’s first trade deal. If effectuated, the FTA will be Korea’s 11th of its kind with foreign countries.
The FTA would lower the tariffs for Korean automobile and electronic export products, while providing trade barriers for local agricultural and livestock industries, officials said.
“As a result of the bilateral ministerial talk held on Wednesday, Korea and Australia agreed that their two-way FTA negotiations have successfully rounded off,” Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick told reporters in a press briefing on Thursday.
“After a thorough legal review of the draft agreement, we will initialize a provisional version hopefully in the first half of next year.”
On the premise that the parliament ratifies the agreement without delay, the final pact is expected to take effect in early 2015.
The trade minister visited Indonesia’s Bali earlier in the week to participate in the ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization.
“The two countries reached an agreement on most pending issues, especially the Investor-State Dispute settlement clause,” Yoon said.
The trade negotiations of Korea and Australia first kicked off back in 2009 but fell apart in the following year, largely due to Australia’s opposition to the controversial ISD clause, which allows investors to file a compensation suit against the state.
The two countries resumed the talks in November this year, while multilateral regional trade blocs such as the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership picked up momentum in the global forum.
“Australia, which was quite eager to have the bilateral FTA settled, agreed that a protection measure is needed for Korean investors,” said Woo Tae-hee, the ministry’s chief FTA negotiator.
The Oceanian state has signed over 10 trade agreements so far but this is the first time that it consented to an ISD clause, he explained.
As for the concerns that the FTA may infringe upon the domestic agricultural and livestock industries, the Trade Ministry said that sufficient prevention measures had been adopted.
“The tariff on highly sensitive items such as beef and dairy products will be abolished on a long-term basis of 10 years or more,” Woo said. Currently about 40 percent tariff has been imposed to beef from Australia.
Exceptional provisions such as the Agricultural Safe Guard or Trade Rate Quota will also be applied as to minimize the impact of the trade pact on the domestic market, he added.
Australia, on the other hand, agreed to immediately abolish all tariffs on most of Korea’s key export items, such as automobile, electronic and machine goods, according to the trade chief.
“It is true that the Korea-Australia FTA is more conservative, meaning that it allowed a narrower range of market opening on agricultural and livestock goods,” said Kim Duk-ho, international cooperation director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
“Though supplementary protection measures will have to be established, we expect relatively slight damages on local industries.”
As of last year, Australia was Korea’s seventh-largest trading partner, while Korea was the fourth-largest partner for Australia, as well as its third-largest car exporter.
The trade volume between the two countries reached $29 billion last year.
(
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