South Korea’s free trade deals with Australia and Canada will come into force in the coming weeks, a government official participating in the final negotiations with the two countries said Wednesday.
Seoul’s deal with Canberra will take effect “within the next two weeks,” the official with South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, asking not to be named.
“(South Korea’s) pact with Canada will take more time though, as Ottawa officials still need to complete their own legislative reviews,” the official added.
The official declined to give further details, as final talks were still ongoing.
The National Assembly in Seoul approved the two treaties on Tuesday. Australia has completed parliamentary ratification of its agreement with Seoul. South Korea and Australia are discussing the date that the tariff cuts will take effect.
But dairy and beef farmers in Korea are still unsatisfied with the deals, as statistical projections show they will suffer from intensified foreign competition.
“It’s not only the two FTAs that we are concerned about,” said Bae Jung-sik, a senior official who has worked in the Korea Dairy & Beef Farmers Association for 18 years.
“We already have deals with the EU and the U.S. We need some kind of fundamental solution to increased foreign competition,” Bae added.
Bae mentioned the Korean milk market already has too much supply, which depresses market prices.
“More milk imports will only bring prices further down, and could kill domestic producers. The government needs to come up with a more fundamental solution, such as increasing domestic demand.”
By Jeong Hunny (
hj257@heraldcorp.com)
