S. Korea, US far divided over rice, quarantine issues in FTA talks
S. Korea, U.S. far divided over rice, quarantine issues in FTA talks
WASHINGTON, June 7 2006 (Yonhap) — South Korea and the United States ended the third day of their first round of talks over a free trade accord Wednesday, with both remaining far apart over rice and quarantine issues, Seoul’s chief negotiator said.
On the two chapters for agricultural goods and sanitary and phytosanitary issue, the two countries failed to agree on so-called "consolidated texts" which were to have been used as base documents at the second round of free trade talks scheduled for Seoul next month, Kim Jong-hoon told reporters in a briefing.
However, Kim said he was satisfied with the pace of the talks, saying both sides have agreed about 40 percent of issues on the negotiating table.
South Korea and the U.S. are set to end their first round of talks on Friday, with negotiators scheduled to resume talks in Seoul starting July 10. They hope to wrap up the talks by the end of next March.
At the talks on Wednesday, South Korea demanded the U.S. accept its "special tariff measure" aimed at preventing imports of certain agricultural goods, especially rice, from surging above a certain level. The U.S. has balked at conceding the protective measure, officials said.
The U.S. has also asked South Korea to ease its rules on sanitary and phytosanitary system, they said.
The talks saw about 100 South Korean farmers and labor activists opposed to the free trade negotiations take part in peaceful demonstrations in Washington alongside members of U.S. labor federations, including Change to Win and the AFL-CIO.
A free trade pact with the U.S. would seriously threaten the livelihoods of South Korean farmers, as a flood of cheaper agricultural products entered the market. For U.S. manufacturing workers, an accord with South Korea would mean fewer jobs and lower pay, because of an influx of more price-competitive cell phones and automobiles.
"This administration seems to think that ’free trade’ means they get to freely trade workers’ rights and protections for the benefit and profit of global corporations," said Anna Burger, who heads Change to Win, in a statement. "We need fair trade, not trade that leads to fewer jobs, lower pay, worsened working conditions and environmental degradation."
