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REPORT INDEX

  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  2. INTRODUCTION
  3. BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
  4. TARIFF BARRIERS
  5. NON-TARIFF BARRIERS
  6. INVESTMENTS
  7. TRADE IN SERVICES
  8. CONCLUSIONS
  9. LIST OF TABLES

GLOBAL TEAM

 

3.  BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

I. Historical Background -- II. Different Interests and Aspects -- III. Common Interests and Aspects

I. Historical Background

The first step towards a Free Trade Agreement between Chile and Korea was made in 1997 when Korea suggested it to Chile. The idea of an FTA was posed again to Chile during the meeting of leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in November 1998. In April 1999, Chile received a formal petition from Korea. Subsequently, it was announced at the APEC meeting in Auckland, in September 1999, that Chile and Korea have officially decided to make all the necessary efforts in order to achieve an FTA, which they expect will occur in the year 2001.

According to the agreement between Eduardo Frei, President of Chile, and Kim Daejung, President of the Republic of Korea, the bilateral FTA will be based on the following principles[1]:

  • The agreement will encompass substantially all trade, including trade in services, with the highest possible degree of liberalization, as well as rules in investment and the protection of intellectual property rights.

  • The FTA will follow the general principles of the WTO and the principles of international trade.

According to Daniela Benavente,[2] the “blueprint” for this agreement was the one used for the FTA between Chile and Canada.

Since then, high-level working group meetings have been held twice, in April and June of 1999. In December 1999, at the first official negotiation meeting, the two countries agreed to hold four more negotiation meetings in the year 2000. While the second and the third negotiation meetings were held in February and May as scheduled, the fourth negotiation meeting expected to be held from 25th to 28th July was postponed due to the disagreement on the issue of concessions in agricultural goods. Finally, in December, they held the fourth negotiation in South Korea, and are currently planning to have the fifth negotiation meeting in Chile around late February 2001.[3]

Thus, in the short term, negotiations between the two countries seem to be experiencing trouble. Analysis of the reasons will follow in the next section.

[1] Government of Chile, General Department of International Economic Relations, “Chile y Corea Lanzan Negociaciones para un Tratado de Libre Comercio.”

[2] Candidate for Master of International Affairs 2001 at Columbia University, internship for Chilean government at WTO, from June to August 2000, beginning of negotiations FTA Chile-Korea.

[3] Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Korean Basic Plan on FTA (written in Korea), December, 2000.

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Last updated: January 09, 2001. Copyright @ 2000 by GLOBAL Trade Consultants.

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