According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) Under the Korea-China FTA, Seoul will eliminate its import tariffs on 79 percent of all products, or 9,690 goods, from China within 10 years following its implementation.

Beijing will do the same on 71 percent of all products, or 5,846 items, from South Korea over the cited period.

In the 20 years after the FTA goes into effect, South Korea will have eliminated its tariffs on 92 percent of all products from China, with China eliminating its tariffs on 91 percent of all products from South Korea.

In the same session Monday, the National Assembly also approved bilateral FTAs with New Zealand and Vietnam.

Under the Korea-Vietnam FTA signed in May, the Southeast Asian country will completely remove its import duties on 89.9 percent of all products from South Korea over a 15-year period following its implementation.

Seoul will do the same on 95.4 percent or 11,668 out of the total 12,232 products imported from Vietnam.

Under the FTA with New Zealand inked in late March, South Korea will remove tariffs on 96.4 percent of all products from New Zealand within 15 years of the deal taking effect. By comparison, New Zealand will eliminate tariffs on all South Korean goods within seven years of the deal taking effect.

The two sides agreed to exclude rice, a key staple food for Koreans, and other sensitive agricultural produce, including apples and garlic, from the deal.

The National Assembly also passed an FTA in the investment and service sectors with Turkey that will complement the bilateral trade pact that went into effect in 2013.

The countries implemented their bilateral FTA for products in May 2013 after they failed to narrow differences in the service and investment sectors.

The agreement for the service and investment sectors will open up most of Turkey's service market with only a handful of areas excluded from market liberalization, such as government procurement and airline services.

It will also prohibit any type of restrictions on market access while also requiring both countries to streamline their regulations with international norms.

khj@yna.co.kr

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Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (Nov. 30, 2015)