Korea-Peru Free Trade Coffee will be Zero tariff

South Korea's parliament passed a motion to ratify the Korea-Peru Free Trade Agreement on the 29th, in which Korean color TV sets and Peruvian coffee will be subject to zero tariffs immediately after the agreement comes into force.

SEOUL, June 29 (Xinhua Ban Wei) South Korea's National Assembly 29 passed the South Korea-Peru Free Trade Agreement ratification motion. The agreement is scheduled to enter into force on August 1.

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement on the same day that the two governments are currently negotiating specific implementation details of the agreement so that the agreement can enter into force smoothly as planned. The agreement will greatly enhance trade, investment and resource cooperation between the two countries and will also help South Korea further open up the South American market.

According to the agreement, South Korea and Peru will gradually abolish tariffs on all import and export commodities within 10 years after the agreement comes into effect. Among them, Korean color TV sets and Peruvian coffee will be subject to zero tariffs immediately after the agreement comes into effect. South Korean bulk industrial products such as automobiles and household appliances and Peruvian bulk agricultural products such as asparagus and bananas will be reduced or exempted in stages.

It is reported that the bilateral trade volume between South Korea and Peru last year was 1.98 billion US dollars. South Korea's main export products to Peru are automobiles, machinery, computers, plastics, etc., while its import products from Peru are mainly ores, oil, coal, coffee, alcohol, etc. South Korean investment in Peru is mainly concentrated in the mining and energy sectors.

South Korea and Peru launched the first round of negotiations on a free trade agreement in March 2009, reached a final agreement in August last year, initialed it in November of the same year and formally signed it in March this year.