Korea, Canada to hold FTA talks
Korea Times
Korea, Canada to Hold FTA Talks
20 June 2006
South Korea will hold a series of talks with Canada in Seoul next week on a free trade agreement (FTA), the country’s Agriculture Ministry said Tuesday.
At the sixth round of talks from Monday to Thursday, the two sides will exchange lists of items they seek additional tariff cuts for, Yonhap News Agency reported.
During previous talks in April, Canada called for a softening of the ``rules of origin’’ on livestock, while South Korea sought tariff reductions for automobile and ship imports.
The two countries began their first round of FTA talks in July last year and aim to reach an agreement by the end of 2009.
South Korea, which has forged similar trade pacts with Chile and Singapore, is currently negotiating FTAs with several other countries, including the United States and the European Union (EU).
The government aims to compete an FTA in the trade of goods with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in July and expand it to include the service and investment sectors by the end of the year.
