G/TBT/W/729  
 
10 March  2020 
(20-1851) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
REPUBLIC OF KOREA - BALLAST WATER MANAGE MENT ACT  
STATEMENT BY THE EUROPEAN UNION TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS T O TRADE  
26 – 27 FEBRUARY  2020 
The following communication, dated 9 March  2020, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the European Union . 
 
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1.  The EU would like to reiterate its concerns with regard to South Korea 's requirements for 
certifying ballast water treatment systems (BWTS) manufactured by EU companies for vessels 
registered under the Korean flag, in particular regarding (1) the time needed by Korean authorities 
to carry out a control of the certificates issued by recognised bodies, and (2) the related cost which 
appear excessive.  
2.  At the last committee meeting, in line with Article 2.9 of the TBT Agreement, the EU requested 
Korea to notify the measure for comments to the WTO. Korea has not yet made this notification.  
3.  On 11 November 2019, the EU was informed, by letter by the Korean Ministry of  Ocean and 
Fisheries of the Republic of Korea (MOF), about an amendment to the Korean BWTS Act and an 
issuance of a new ordinance as of 1 July 2019. This was to allow for an easing or exemption of test 
requirements for systems that had obtained foreign cou ntry approval.  
4.  Apparently, test results from an officially approved test institute in an EU Member State are 
accepted by the Korean authorities, but the EU industry raised serious doubts that this would 
effectively be the case given the administrative dif ficulties they encountered.  
5.  More specifically, difficulties were reported by EU applicants with regard to the time needed for 
reviewing the documentation submitted for obtaining type approval certificates. The EU applicant 
has been informed by the Korean Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) that it will 
take approximately one year to only assess the relevant documentation provided, which includes 
tests performed by EU IMO recognised institutes and the Korean Register (KR) class society. In 
addition, following this first review, the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries (MOF) will then need to 
review KIOST recommendation/results, prior to issuing the final type approval.  
6.  The EU does not question Korea 's right as a sovereign Flag State to require ballast water 
treatment systems to be approved in Korea for the domestic fleet but, the duration for carrying out 
this revision appears excessively long and turns this administrative control into a real trade barrier. 
One year to review test result s that are already obtained by another world class society following 
IMO requirements appears exceptionally long. For example, in the EU, the duration requested is 
considerably shorter as it took two weeks for the same applicants to get the certificate iss ued by 
Croatia.  
7.  In addition, the EU applicants reported that the costs requested by the Korean Authorities for 
this revision would amount to EUR 60 ,000, excluding tax. Such a fee seems unreasonably high for 
a document review. By comparison, the fee charged  by Italy for similar services amounts to EUR 16, 
in Greece approximately EUR 5 ,000 and China EUR 3 ,000.  G/TBT/W/729  
 
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  8.  The EU would appreciate receiving clarification on the reasoning and motivation for what appear 
to be a disproportionate fee and duration for carrying  out such an administrative control.  
9.  This appears as a de facto closure of the Korean market, which grants preferential treatment to 
local manufacturers of ballast water treatment systems for Korean flagged vessels. Moreover, given 
that the demand for BWTS  is driven mainly by legislation, we know that by 2024 demand will strongly 
decline. The longer the review procedure lasts, the higher the impact. There is a real risk that 
because of this barrier, the EU industry will be pushed out of the Korean market.  
10.  The EU would like to reiterate its invitation to Korea to effectively recognise all tests previously 
performed according to the IMO requirements by ensuring a swift and cost-effective  approval 
procedure.  
11.  The EU would like to invite the Korean authorities to inform them on the steps taken to remove 
this trade barrier.  
 
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