<12/6/2013> South Korea-Australia FTA Settled: May Take Effect as Early as 2015 [English, CSY]

http://english.khan.co.kr/khan_art_view.html?artid=201312061822567&code=710100

Summary: Negotiations for the South Korea-Australia free trade agreement (FTA) concluded after 4 years and 7 months, and the FTA may go into effect as early as 2015. On December 5, the government announced that Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick met with Australia's Minister of Trade and Investment Andrew Robb in Bali, Indonesia on December 4 and confirmed that the South Korea-Australia FTA talks had actually concluded.

Given the sensitivity of agricultural products, South Korea decided to exclude rice and fruit, such as apples, pears and persimmons, and pollock from the latest agreement. In addition, the government decided to eliminate the tariff on 509 sensitive agricultural products over a 10 year period. To guard against serious damages to its  domestic industry, the Government of Korea will also introduce a safeguard for agricultural products--an emergency restriction on imports. However, if the tariff barrier is lowered on Australian beef, which is already number one in the imported beef market with a market share of 56.9%, a blow to the domestic stock farms seems inevitable.

S. Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement to be Signed in Early 2014 … Implementation Starts in 2015 [Korean, OSY]

http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2013/12/05/0302000000AKR20131205106952003.HTML

Summary: S. Korean government announced  that Korea and Australia reached final agreement on bilateral trade deal in a ministerial meeting held in Indonesia on December 4.  The agreement will be signed early 2014 for further ratification by the national assembly in each country.  If the ratification process moves as expected, the FTA is expected to be implementated in January 2015.  The free trade agreement will immediately remove Australia’s import duty (5 percent currently) on small to medium size Korean gasoline automobiles upon implementation.  On the other hand, the Korean import duty (40 percent currently) on Australian beef will be phased over a 15 year period.

2. MARKETING ISSUES

Lawmakers Proposes “Quick Response Code Labeling” on Processed Foods for Detailed Additive Information [Korean, OSY]

http://www.foodnews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=48279

Summary: A group of 12 National Assembly Members submitted a proposal on December 12 that asked for introduction of Quick Response (QR) Code on processed foods.  The lawmakers explained that the QR code would help consumers obtain detailed information about food additives used in the product very easily.

Local Fruits Expand Market Share due to Good Harvest This Year … Price of Imported Bananas Up due to Disruption of Supply from Philippines [Korean, OSY]

http://news.donga.com/3/all/20131203/59316890/1

Summary: According to E Mart, sales of local fruits increased 18.2 percent in November compared to the same month last year while sales growth of imported fruits were around 2 to 7 percent.  The increase in sales of local fruits is mainly due to good harvest this year.  Harvest of apple this year amounted to 420,700 metric tons, up 7 percent from last year.  Harvest of pear amounted to 237,000 metric tons this year, up 37 percent.  This year, as a result, the prices of local apple and pear declined 22 percent and 37 percent, respectively.  E Mart added that disruption of banana supply from The Philippines would generate additional opportunity for local fruits in the coming month.