On 8 June 2015, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced that the South Korean government submitted three bills to the National Assembly for approval on the recently signed bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with China, Vietnam and New Zealand. The government will make its best efforts to put the FTAs with these countries into effect as soon as possible to realize their benefits, the MOTIE’s Deputy Trade Minister Woo Taehee said in…
On 1 June 2015, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced The Republic of Korea (ROK) and China formally signed a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in Seoul today, opening a new era of their future partnership. The FTA started in May 2012. Both countries agree that in addition to promoting bilateral trade and investment, the FTA will serve as a platform to pursue cooperation for new growth engines in all directions between…
On April 16, 2015, the Department of State published in the Federal Register a notice [Public Notice: 9095] that outlines the U.S. Government (USG) actions taken to extend certain sanctions relief under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA) as part of the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA), that halts progress on Iran’s nuclear program and rolls it back in key respects in exchange limited, temporary, and targeted sanctions relief to Iran…
On December 31, 2014, the Canada Gazette published the CKFTA Rules of Origin for Casual Goods Regulations (SOR/2014-300, Dec. 12, 2014), the CKFTA Rules of Origin Regulations and the CKFTA Tariff Prefer¬ence Regulations (SOR/2014-301, Dec. 12, 2014) pursuant to the Customs Tariff. The regulations are necessary to fully implement the Canada–Korea Economic Growth and Prosperity Act which received Royal Assent on November 26, 2014 and implements the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA), which was signed on September 22, 2014.…
The Korean National Assembly passed a motion ratifying the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) on December 2, 2014. The Australian ratification process had been completed in late October. As a result, the KAFTA will enter into force on December 12, 2014. It is understood that some exporters will benefit from an immediate tariff cut on December 12, followed by a second cut on January 1, 2015.
South Korea and Vietnam concluded negotiations on a free-trade agreement on December 10, 2014 that will liberalize nearly all imports and exports between the two countries. The conclusion comes after two and a half years of negotiations, since August 2012. The announcement came on December 10 when President Park Geun-hye held a summit with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who came to Korea to attend the two-day special summit between Korea and the 10-member…
Australian Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb has announced that the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) will enter into force on 12 December 2014. The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBP) has posted links to the following documents on its website. Legislation • Customs Amendment (Korea – Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Act 2014• Customs Tariff Amendment (Korea – Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Act 2014• Customs (Korean Rules of Origin) Regulation 2014 Practice Statement and…
On November 27, 2014, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy, Trade and Industry jointly announced that the sixth round of negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be held in India, from December 1 to 5, 2014. In this round of negotiations, the meetings of the Trade Negotiating Committee, in which senior officials will participate, and of working groups on Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Investment, Economic and Technical Cooperation,…
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and industry (META) reported that the sixth round of negotiations (DG/DDG Meetings) on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) among Japan, China and South Korea was held in Tokyo from November 24 to 28, 2014 Trade and Industry and representatives from relevant Ministries attended the meeting. Various areas such as Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Competition Policies, Intellectual Property, amongst others, were discussed. The next round of negotiations (Chief Delegates…
The European Commission’s EU Trade Newsletter of 2 October 2014, reported that on 22-26 September, the EU and 13 other members of the World Trade Organization participated in the second round of the green goods negotiations (liberalising trade in environmental goods and services) in Geneva. The objective of this initiative was to make it easier to trade green goods internationally.The following countries are taking part: Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Chinese Taipei, the European Union,…