1. BILATERAL/MULTILATERAL ISSUES

On eve of Korea-EU FTA, not all are ready [English, CSY]

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2938246

Summary: The free trade agreement between Korea and the European Union will mark a new era for the Asian country’s international trade. But when the clock strikes midnight tonight marking its implementation, experts fear not everyone will be prepared.   The readiness of Korean and European small- and mid-sized exporters is in question. Exporters on either side sending products worth more than 6,000 euros ($8,590) are required to seek an “Approved Exporter” certification from their respective customs service while conglomerates are ready, SMEs have said they don’t have the resources to fully prepare necessary certifications, seek legal council, or conclude market studies.

S. Korean firms urged to capitalize on EU FTA: minister [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/06/30/82/0502000000AEN20110630001400320F.HTML

Summary: South Korean firms need to use the free trade pact with the European Union (EU) as a chance to further improve their competitiveness in overseas markets, the country's top trade official said Thursday.   The free trade accord, signed in October last year, will come into effect on Friday, paving the way for South Korean companies to tap deeper into the world's single largest economic bloc.

Korea-Peru FTA Ratified and Could Take Effect in Aug. 2011[English, CSY]

http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=117602&code=Ne4&category=3

Full text: Korea's National Assembly has ratified the Korea-Peru Free Trade Agreement at a plenary session on Wednesday.   The trade deal passed through the foreign affairs and trade committee on Tuesday and was approved without contention following its submission earlier this month.  Korea is to benefit the most in car exports, with tariffs on vehicles equipped with three-liter or larger engines to be eliminated immediately following implementation.   For Peru, its coffee is to be imported duty-free, scrapping the two percent tariff that had been in place.  Other products traded between the two, including televisions and washing machines from Korea, and squid and bananas from Peru, will have their tariffs eliminated over the next five to seven years.  Peru is Korea's eighth trading partner to sign an FTA, and the second Latin American country to sign with the Asian country.  Negotiations took place from March 2009 and the deal was officially signed on March 21st, 2011.  According to Korea Customs Service data, Korea's trade with Peru amounted to more than 1.9 billion US dollars in 2010.  As the national law of Peru does not require the legislature's approval, the FTA can be implemented as early as August this year.   "Once the FTA takes effect, tariffs on products being traded between the two countries, such as automobiles and agricultural products, will be eliminated within the next ten years.

Obama clears hurdle to FTAs with S. Korea, [English, CSY]

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/06/113_89815.html

Summary: U.S. President Barack Obama has reached a deal with congressional Republicans on the terms of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, clearing a major obstacle to the ratification of bilateral trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, the White House announced Tuesday.  "As a result of extensive negotiations, we now have an agreement on the underlying terms for a meaningful renewal of a strengthened TAA," press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement.  TAA is designed to provide re-training and health care benefits for workers who lose jobs due to import competition. Obama has said he would not submit the free trade agreements (FTAs) with the three nations before resolving the renewal of the TAA program, which was expanded two years ago and expired in February. The Republicans had refused to agree to extend TAA, citing budget constraints.

2. LIVESTOCK ISSUES

<6/27/2011> Gov’t to introduce pork tracking system [English, CSY]

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2938069

Full text: Korea aims to introduce a tracking system for all pork sold on the local market starting in 2014 to make it easier to recall substandard products, the government said yesterday. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said it is in the process of working out the details of setting up the comprehensive tracking system with related agencies and livestock groups.   “Because pigs are usually slaughtered in a relatively short period of time compared to cattle, the tracking system may be harder to maintain, but there is consensus that it must be created to improve consumer rights and strengthen the competitiveness of local pork producers vis-a-vis imports,” a ministry official said.   He said once the system is in place, consumers will be able to check quickly where a pig was raised, slaughtered and how its meat was packaged and distributed before reaching store shelves.

The ministry said that the tracking system has gained more urgency following the latest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that forced the government to cull and bury more than 3.47 million livestock, of which the bulk were pigs.   A working tracking system might have allowed authorities to better control the spread of the disease that is estimated to have cost Seoul more than 3 trillion won ($2.8 billion), experts said.

<6/28/2011> Korea, Canada strike beef deal  [English, CSY]

A ban has been in place since May 2003 when mad cow was discovered ‘Korea will only import Canadian beef from young cattle.’ - Park Chul-soo

수입금지 8년 만에 … 캐나다 쇠고기 연내 들어온다

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2938138

Summary: An agreement between Seoul and Ottawa has set the stage for the resumption of Canadian beef imports to Korea, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in a press release yesterday. The import of Canadian beef has been banned since May 2003 when mad cow disease was discovered in that country.   The countries will suspend a World Trade Organization dispute settlement process and Canada will withdraw its claim against Korea when imports resume.  Under the blueprint, Korea will permit the import of Canadian beef, including bone, from cattle younger than 30 months of age.  However, the scope of banned materials will be stricter than it is for American beef, and Korea will hold more leverage in implementing contingency measures if mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, breaks out in the country.

3. MARKETING ISSUES

Fair Trade Committee Reveals Hefty Mark-Ups Taken by Department Stores and TV Home Shopping Retailers [Korean, OSY]

http://economy.donga.com/ENews/3/0108/20110630/38418060/3

Summary: Fair Trade Committee (FTC) revealed results of its research on mark-ups taken by large-scale retailers on June 29.  FTC report indicates that department stores and TV home shopping retailers take much larger mark-ups than hypermarket retailers.  

Leading Hypermarket Chains to Increase Imports of Food Products from EU [Korean, OSY]

http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2011/06/29/0318000000AKR20110629203900003.HTML?template=2088

Summary: Hypermarket stores have reportedly been working on expanding imports/sales of European products to cope with the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement which is scheduled to go effect on July 1.  For example, E-Mart will start to sell Belgium pork meat from mid-July.  E-Mart has increased purchase volume of pasta products from EU countries ten times.  E-Mart will also source products from additional EU countries, including Bulgaria and Denmark.  Tae-Woo Kim, purchasing manager of E-Mart, commented that the volume of food imports from EU countries will increase 40 percent during the second half this year.  Tesco Home-Plus, the second largest hypermarket store chain owned by Tesco UK, plans to increase yearly imports from EU countries from current $10 million level to $25 million after the FTA.

4. OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target by Field to Be Confirmed [English, CSY]

http://www.koreaittimes.com/story/15481/greenhouse-gas-reduction-target-field-be-confirmed

Summary: The government announced it will finally confirm a greenhouse gas reduction target by field and industry, which subdivided the national greenhouse gas reduction target (30% of the 2020 BAU levels) into field such as industry ∙ conversion, building ∙ traffic and agro-livestock and detailed business type in each field during this July.   In April, 2011, the Greenhouse Gas Inventory & Research Center of Korea, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and related experts organized a TF team.

Korean Students Scored Highest in “Digital Reading Aptitude” Test by OECD [Korean, OSY]

http://news.donga.com/It/Com/3/0809/20110630/38421330/1

Summary: Korean students scored 568 points in “Digital Reading Aptitude” test administered by OECD in 2009, exceeding students in other OECD countries that scored 499 points on average.  New Zealand and Australian students earned second highest scores in the test, 537.  The test result indicates that Korean students are far more adapted to digital communication tools, such as Internet.