South Korea: Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries “RCEP, Opportunity to Protect Seafood and Expand Market”

Frozen Common Shrimp & Prawn

Frozen Bonito

Published Nov 24, 2020

Tridge summary

With the final signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) at the 4th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Summit held on the 15th, attention is being drawn to how the import and export of fisheries will develop. In particular, since this is the first trade agreement signed with Japan, voices are calling for countermeasures in response to changes in the import and export of seafood to Japan. According to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, RCEP fisheries negotiations were concluded at the level of minimizing additional market opening based on the existing FTA while maintaining current tariffs on sensitive domestic seafood such as shrimp, squid, dome, scallops, and yellowtail. . The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said that negotiations with China were completed at the same level as the existing FTA (effective in 2015) without additional market opening, and in the case of ASEAN and Vietnam, negotiations were conducted to minimize the opening of additional imports while expanding export opportunities. Is the explanation.

Original content

For ASEAN, from 2017 to 2019, 1.6% ($5 million) of average gross income ($326 million) and 97.9% ($291 million) of total exports ($297 million) will be opened. did. The 5% tariff imposed on bonito (frozen), laver (dried), and yellowfin (frozen), which are mainly exported to ASEAN countries, will be applied to 0% immediately after the RCEP enters into force, providing a foothold for expanding exports to the ASEAN region. . Imports from Vietnam opened an additional 0.4% ($3 million) of the average gross import ($81 million) from 2017 to 2019, and exports already account for 100% of the total exports ($132 million). There were no additional negotiations as it was open to the existing FTA. However, concerns are high about Japan, which will be the first to sign a trade agreement. In particular, the RCEP may be subject to a more relaxed standard than the FTA, which is a bilateral trade agreement, and there is a movement against Japan's import of fishery products in the event of the ...

Source: Fisheco