Korea-Philippines FTA goes into effect, banana tariffs to be eliminated within 5 years

As the Korea-Philippines Free Trade Agreement (FTA) goes into effect on the 31st, tariffs on Philippine bananas will be completely eliminated within 5 years. When the bilateral FTA goes into effect, Korea will eliminate tariffs on 94.8% of all items imported from the Philippines. The Philippines will also eliminate tariffs on 96.5% of imported items from Korea starting on this day. Korea will eliminate the 30% tariff on bananas, a product of interest to the Philippines, over 5 years. It is expected to be reduced by 6% each year starting from the first year of the FTA. However, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that it has secured agricultural product safeguard (ASG) measures to prevent a sharp increase in banana imports from the Philippines. Accordingly, the Korean government can re-impose tariffs of up to 30% if the annual banana import volume exceeds the standard amount for 10 years starting from the first year of the FTA. In addition, tariffs on processed ...