South Korea: post-corona and changes in the seafood market

Seafood

South Korea

Published Dec 15, 2020

Tridge summary

Due to the recent pandemic of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19), the global gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate forecast in 2020 is being adjusted to decline sharply, and the domestic fishing village's economic activities face a great threat due to a sharp decline in distribution and export of seafood. In the first half of 2020, both exports and imports of seafood showed a decline due to the impact of Corona 19. According to the Korea Institute of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Development (KMI) FTA Implementation Support Center, imports of fishery products from January to June 2020 from countries in which Korea signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) were mainly in China, EFTA (Norway), and the United States in the same period last year. Compared to this, the trade deficit decreased by 5.5% to $1.08 billion, with a decrease of 8.6% ($1.76 billion) and exports by 13.3% ($680 million). With the prolonged Corona 19, domestic demand and exports of the fishery industry are suffering overall damage, and measures for damage to the fishery industry are required.

Original content

In the midst of this continuing situation, on November 15, 2020, the leaders of 15 countries including Korea signed the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement), the world's largest FTA, and accordingly, negotiations in the fishery sector were also completed. RCEP is a free trade agreement that has been promoted since 2012 by 10 ASEAN countries and 15 countries including Korea, China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand with the aim of eliminating tariff barriers.It is a trade of $5.4 trillion, accounting for about 30% of the world. It is the world's largest FTA in scale. This agreement demonstrates our support for open, inclusive and rule-based trade and investment agreements, as well as our strong commitment to economic recovery, inclusive development, job creation and strengthening supply chains in the region. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries maintains current tariffs on sensitive domestic seafood such as shrimp, squid, dome, scallops, and ...

Source: Fisheco