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[Related] *Updates: Australia-Korea FTA Talks
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2009 September 03 |
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Results of the Fifth Round Korea-Australia FTA Negotiations
Canberra May 2010
by Jan Adams
First Assistant Secretary, FTA Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/rok/fta/
The Korean delegation, of 55 officials in total, was led by Chief FTA negotiator, Lee Tae-ho, from the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT). I led an Australian delegation of about 50 officials from a wide range of Australian Government agencies. Real progress was again made at this round - both sides are clearly keen to see this negotiation through to conclusion as quickly as we can, and this has underpinned the constructive attitude both sides continue to demonstrate. Nevertheless, significant challenges remain in achieving improvements in Korea’s good market access offer, particularly on agriculture.
Overall, the majority of chapter texts have been effectively concluded, including on topics such as Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS), Dispute Settlement, Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation, and E-Commerce, although all chapter negotiations remain subject to the legal scrub process and the conclusion of the agreement as a whole.
In the lead-up to the fifth round, the two sides exchanged further clarifications regarding each side’s respective goods market access interests. At the round, Australia continued to highlight the improvements we need in Korea's goods offer, particularly for priority agricultural products. Korea similarly highlighted its interest in the elimination of Australia's tariffs on its priority industrial products.
The two sides continued with constructive exchanges on goods-related chapters. In addition to those chapter texts mentioned above, these include chapters on Trade in Goods, Trade Remedies and Rules of Origin. Despite the effective conclusion of some goods-related chapters, further discussion will be required in certain areas. The two sides also continued to discuss each side’s proposals for enhanced cooperation in the agricultural, energy and mineral resources sectors.
We also had substantial discussions on various services and investment topics. Text negotiations in the five relevant chapters (Cross-Border Trade in Services, Investment, Financial Services, Telecommunications and Movement of Natural Persons) have moved close to conclusion in most areas. Before the round, the two sides exchanged revised services and investment market access requests, and the fifth round provided an opportunity to further discuss each side’s priorities and sensitivities. Australia’s requests have focused on sectors including financial services, telecommunications, professional services and education.
Negotiations on other chapters, including Intellectual Property Rights and Government Procurement, made further good progress. Both sides also exchanged and discussed initial government procurement market access offers, and this discussion will continue at future meetings.
Looking ahead, the next set of FTA discussions between the two sides is scheduled to be held in Seoul in August 2010.
For further details on the FTA, please go the following website:
http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/rok/fta/
I look forward to staying in touch as negotiations progress.
Regards
Jan Adams
First Assistant Secretary, FTA Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Republic of Korea
Press Release
2010-03-23 09:55
FTA정책기획과
http://www.mofat.go.kr/english/press/pressrelease/index.jsp
The fourth round of the Korea-Australia FTA negotiations was held in Seoul from March 15 to 18, 2010.
During the meetings, the two sides focused on finalizing the consolidated texts of each chapter. As a result, both sides substantially agreed on the most areas of the texts including Labor, Environment, E-commerce and Competition Chapters.
In regard to the issue of market access for goods, Korea and Australia discussed the items of interest and sensitivity. Also, both sides exchanged their views on the reservation lists of service and investment.
The two countries agreed to hold the fifth round of negotiations in Canberra from May 24 to 28, 2010.
Mr. Taeho Lee, Director-General for FTA Policy from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, headed the Korean delegation composed of approximately 60 officials from relevant ministries including the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Ms. Jan Adams, head of the FTA Division from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, headed the Australian delegation composed of approximately 40 delegates
* unofficial translation
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http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au
South Korea trade talks encouraging: Crean
March 15, 2010
AAP
A fourth round of free trade negotiations between Australia and South Korea will start on Monday in Seoul.
Negotiations with Australia's third largest export market began in May 2009.
"There are hard negotiations ahead, but the progress so far has been very encouraging," Trade Minister Simon Crean said in statement.
Australia would continue to push on with core access issues of agriculture and services in latest round of talks.
Australia exports to Korea already are worth more than $21 billion a year.
A feasibility study suggests a free trade agreement with South Korea would boost the Australian economy by $30 billion over 14 years.
Australia is also involved in similar discussions with its two biggest export markets, China and Japan.
At the same time, the first negotiating round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership will start in Melbourne on Monday.
The partnership is part of APEC's long term goal of a free trade area for the Asia-Pacific.
The nations involved in the partnership are Australia, the United States, New Zealand, Singapore, Chile, Brunei, Peru and Vietnam.
Their combined gross domestic product is $17.7 trillion.
Negotiations will explore new approaches to the obstacles facing businesses in the region, especially in the emerging areas of international trade, including services, e-commerce and green technology.
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WORDL KBS NEWS
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Ec_detail.htm?No=70963
Fourth Round of Korea-Australia FTA Talks Due Mon.
Write 2010-03-11 15:41:01
Update 2010-03-11 16:49:03
South Korea and Australia will hold their fourth round of free trade talks from next Monday to Thursday.
The Foreign Ministry in Seoul said Thursday that during the meeting the two sides plan to seek agreements on remaining contentious FTA issues including products and services, investment, government procurement, regulations, general provisions and dispute settlement.
The ministry says Korea will focus on making progress on collaboration in agriculture, energy and minerals.
Also up for full-fledged discussions are tariff concessions and market opening in the services and investment sectors.
Lee Tae-ho from the FTA Policy Planning Bureau of the Foreign Ministry will be the lead representative for the Korean side, while Jan Adams from the Australian Foreign Ministry will head the Australian delegation.
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Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
***Third Round of Negotiations***
for additional information please visit:
http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/rok/fta/index.html
The third round of FTA negotiations between Australia and Korea was held in Canberra from 30 November to 4 December 2009. The Australian delegation was led by Jan Adams, First Assistant Secretary, Free Trade Agreement Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), while Director General Lee Taeho, from the FTA Policy Planning Bureau of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT), led the Korean delegation.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - Newsletter #3
Refer to attached document - go to bottom of page and click on document or visit
http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/rok/fta/newsletter_091221.html
UPDATE #2
Second Negotiating Round 17 September 2009
http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/rok/fta/newsletter_090917.html
The second round of FTA negotiations between Australia and Korea was held in Seoul from 31 August ? 4 September 2009.
The Korean delegation, of about 90 officials in total, was led by newly-appointed chief FTA negotiator, Director General Lee Taeho, from the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT). Jan Adams, Head, Korea FTA Task Force, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) led an Australian delegation of about 30 officials from a number of Australian Government agencies.
Overall, discussions continued in the positive vein set at the first round in May. Each side was well-prepared, engaged and constructive.
In the lead-up to the second round, the two sides exchanged initial goods market access offers (i.e. lists of possible tariff concessions). At the round, each side highlighted those areas where it wanted the other side to improve its offer. Following these opening discussions, both sides have undertaken to exchange formal lists of goods market access requests before the third round.
The two sides continued with constructive exchanges on goods-related chapters. These include chapters on Trade in Goods, Technical Barriers to Trade, Rules of Origin and Customs Procedures. Differences continue to be narrowed, but further discussion will be required on remaining key areas of divergence. The two sides also further discussed Korea’s proposals for enhanced cooperation in the agricultural and resources (energy and minerals) sectors.
Productive exchanges also were held on various services and investment topics, including Cross-Border Trade in Services, Investment, Financial Services, Telecommunications and Movement of Natural Persons. While solid progress is being made in most of these areas, further discussions will be required in subsequent rounds on key issues including coverage and scope of the chapters, and particular proposals from each side. The two sides have agreed that we will aim to exchange initial services and investment market access offers before the third round of negotiations.
Elsewhere, the two sides also had useful exchanges on topics including intellectual property rights, competition policy, government procurement and legal and institutional issues.
Looking ahead, the third round of negotiations will be held in Canberra from 30 November to 4 December.
We welcome input on issues of relevance to the Australia-Korea FTA negotiations. For further information, please email koreafta@dfat.gov.au.
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2nd round of Australian FTA talks begins
September 01, 2009
Published by JongAng Daily
Korea and Australia launched their second round of talks on a free trade agreement in Seoul yesterday, and started discussions on issues including tariff concessions and bilateral investment.
This round, which follows talks that took place this May in Canberra, Australia, will run through Friday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Yesterday the two nations exchanged tariff concession lists.
Korea mainly exports automobiles, mobile phones, color TVs and car parts to Australia, while importing crude oil, soft coal, iron ore, aluminum alloy and meat from the island continent.
Last year, bilateral trade between Korea and Australia, the country’s eighth-largest trading partner, reached $23.2 billion. Korea exported around $5.2 billion to Australia while importing about $18 billion.
Although Australia has been pushing for a trade pact with Korea for several years, Korea had been delaying the talks since its imports from Australia were worth more than three times Korean exports to the country, and a finalized free trade agreement would likely increase imports of such products as coal and meat even further.
Meanwhile, experts in Korea said that a Korea-Australia FTA should be ratified as quickly as possible, as neighboring countries including China and Japan started negotiations earlier.
China opened trade talks with Australia in 2005, while negotiations with Japan began in 2007.
By Cho Jae-eun [jainnie@joongang.co.kr]
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2909490
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Government News
Korea, Australia to hold 2nd round of FTA talks next week
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Wednesday (Aug. 26) that Korea and Australia would have a five-day FTA negotiation in a Seoul hotel from next Monday (Aug. 31).
This negotiation is the second round, following the first one, which took place in Canberra in May.
During these talks, trade ministries of Korea and Australia will have discussions on bilateral market opening, based upon the draft plan exchanged in July, Korea’s Foreign Ministry said.
The two sides will deal intensively with trade cooperation in the fields of energy resources and agriculture in particular, the ministry said.
They will also discuss Product Specific Rules (PSR), which deals with rules of product origin, according to the ministry.
The bilateral FTA deal, when successfully reached, will increase Korea’s exports to Australia, boost energy and resources cooperation between the two countries, and ramp up mutual investment and exchange of professionals, the ministry hoped.
Australia is Korea’s eighth largest trading partner, main mineral resource provider, and number one outward bound investment nation, the ministry said.
By James Ro
Korea.net Staff Writer
Published by Korea.Net
http://www.korea.net/News/News/LangView.asp?lang_no=1&serial_no=20090827005
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S.Korea, Australia to Hold FTA Talks in Seoul
2009-08-26 13:03:16
Trade officials from South Korea and Australia will meet in Seoul next week for a second round of talks on the establishment of a bilateral free trade agreement.
In the five-day talks starting Monday, the two sides will launch discussions on the opening of the commodity market based on a recently exchanged draft and will discuss itemized rules of origin for each nation.
The Trade Ministry said Wednesday that the Korean negotiators will deliver the nation's position on key issues in areas related to energy, mineral resources and agriculture.
Published by KBS World
http://rki.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Ec_detail.htm?No=66118
Download : Talks-3rdRound_4Dec2009.pdf
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