S.Korean parliament ratifies FTA pact with Peru

South Korea's National Assembly on Wednesday ratified the free trade agreement (FTA) with Peru, paving the way for further economic cooperation between the two nations.

The ratification came after the National Assembly foreign affairs and trade committee approved it on Tuesday.

The two nations launched their talks about an FTA bill in March 2008, and entered official negotiations in early 2009. The trade deal was formally signed in March this year.

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade hailed the approvement of the deal in a statement, saying it will contribute to promoting trades and investments and strengthening cooperation in resources development.

The deal, the second of its kind South Korea reached with a Latin American country, following the FTA with Chile signed in 2003, calls for the abolishment of all tariffs in trade within 10 years.

Under the pact, the two nations will respectively grant immediate duty free access for products such as South Korea-made color TV sets and Peru's coffee upon entry into force of the agreement, while tariffs on goods including Seoul's industrial commodities such as automobiles and Peru's agricultural commodities such as asparagus and bananas will be eliminated by stages over a period of 10 years. But a total of 107 agricultural and aquatic products that South Korea views as "sensitive", such as rice, beef and garlic, are excluded from the agreement.

The two nations also agreed on cooperation on energy and natural resources in the agreement, the first time for Seoul to mention such collaboration in an FTA bill.

Bilateral trade between the two nations reached 1.98 billion U. S. dollars in 2010 with South Korea's exports to the South American country reaching 944 million dollars.

Editor: yan

English.news.cn   2011-06-29 22:46:13 FeedbackPrintRSS
SEOUL, June 29 (Xinhua)