WT/REG 367/M/1  
 
21 October  2016 
(16-5737) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
Eighty -second  Session   
 
 FREE TRADE AGREEMENT  BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF KORE A AND NEW ZE ALAND  
(GOODS AND SERVICES ) 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 27 SEPTEMBER  2016 
Chairman: Ambassador Daniel BLOCKERT (Sweden)  
1.1.  The 82nd Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter 'CRTA ' or the 
'Committee') was convened in Airgram  WTO/AIR/RTA/ 7/Rev.1  dated 16 September  2016. 
1.2.  Under Agenda Item B.VI of the session, the CRTA considered the  Free Trade Agreement  
(FTA)  between the Republic of Korea and New Zealand , goods and services , (hereina fter "the 
Agreement").  
1.3.  The Chairman  said that t he Agreement had entered into force on 20 December 2015. It had 
been notified to the WTO by the Parties on 21  December  2015 under Article  XXIV:7(a) of the 
GATT  1994 and the Understanding on the Interpretation of Article  XXIV of GATT 1994 as an 
Agreement establishing a free trade area (document  WT/REG367/N/1) and under 
GATS  Article  V:7(a) as an Agreement providing for the liberalization of trade in services within the 
meaning of Article V of the GATS (document S /C/N/855). The text of the Agreement was available, 
together with its Annexes, on the Parties' official websites.  
1.4.   The Factual Presentation on the goods and services aspects (document  WT/REG367/1 dated 
8 July 2016) ha d been prepared by the Secretariat on i ts own responsibility in full consultation 
with the Parties, in accordance with paragraph  7(b) of the Transparency Mechanism for Regional 
Trade Agreements (document  WT/L/671). In addition, written questions and replies on this 
Agreement had been  distribute d in document WT/REG367/2 dated 16 September 2016.  
1.5.  He propose d to organize the consideration of the Agreement by first asking the Parties and 
then other Members to give any general comments , following which the Committee would turn to 
the specifics of the Agreement . 
1.6.  The representative of the Republic of Korea  thanked  the Secretariat for the Factual 
Presentation, as well as Members for their interest and questions . He also thank ed New Zealand 
for its cooperation in jointly preparing for the session with Kore a. 
1.7.  Korea saw great merits in the RTA T ransparency Mechanism  as it kept Members informed of 
recent developments on other Members ' RTAs and provide d opportunities for deeper 
understanding o f them.  
1.8.  The Korea -New Zealand FTA was a commercially significant FTA, especially taking into 
account the complementary trade structure of the two countries where Korea export ed industrial 
products such as automobiles, petroleum products and machinery to New Z ealand while 
New Zealand exported  forestry, agricultural and live stock products to Korea. Two -way trade in 
goods between Korea and New Zealand amount ed to US$1.27 billion as of the first half of 2016, 
with Korea 's exports to New Zealand amount ing to US$0.71 billion and Korea 's imports from New 
Zealand to US$ 0.56 billion . 
1.9.  The Agreement was  a comprehensive and high -standard trade agreement that aim ed at 
fostering a favo urable environment for free trade and investment. In the area of goods, as of year WT/REG3 67/M/1 
 
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  three  (2017), duties on 84.6% of Korean tariff lines and 92.4% of New Zea land's tariff lines would  
be eliminated, with virtually all remaining tariffs to be lifted by 2034. Korea  believe d that the 
Agreement was fully consistent with the WTO obligations of both countries and it buil t upon and 
went further than the Parties'  WTO c ommitments in many areas.  
1.10.   With regard to services and investment, the Agreement provide d GATS -plus outcomes for 
the Parties ' respective service suppliers, including but not limited to business, educational, 
communication, construction, distribution, envir onment, and tourism services.  
1.11.   The Agreement's  disciplines and commitments went beyond market access in goods and 
services and extend ed to other important areas of movement of natural persons, government 
procurement, and intellectual property rights at WTO -plus levels.  
1.12.   The Agreement  also feature d components to further strengthen complimentary bilateral 
trade structures. Specifically, the Agreement  include d a separate chapter for cooperation, 
providing details for closer cooperation in the fields of agricult ure, forestry and fisheries.  
1.13.   The Agreement wa s expected to largely contribute to the sound expansion of trade between 
Korea and New Zealand. Korea 's exports to New Zealand ha d grown more than 10% after the 
Agreement' s entry into force in December 2015. As  such, while the FTA was still at an early stage 
of implementation, Korean industries were already enjoying positive outcomes in the sectors of 
passenger vehicle tires, construction equipment and washing machine s, thanks to tariff reductions. 
At the same t ime, New Zealand 's industries were also enjoying the benefits of the FTA for products 
such as frozen beef, butter, milk and cream.  
1.14.   The representative of New Zealand  thanked his colleagues from Korea for the excellent 
cooperation through the preparation fo r the session and Members who had posed questions . From 
New Zealand's perspective,  the Agreement was  a high quality and comprehensive one that 
liberalise d trade in goods and services, and facilitate d investment flows  with one of New  Zealand 's 
most importan t trading partners.  
1.15.   The FTA ha d been in force since December 2015. Th e timing for entry into force had allowed 
two phases of tariff reductions to occur in quick succession : a set of "entry into force reductions " 
on 20 December 2015;  and "Year 1 reductions " on 1 January 2016.  
1.16.   There ha d been a significant increase in the flow of trade between the Parties since then , a 
sign of the commitment by New  Zealand and Korea to smooth and effective implementation of the 
Agreement. It ha d been a busy and active impleme ntation agenda, with many of the Committees 
having already met, including the Joint Commission.  
1.17.   Under the FTA, around 98 % of New  Zealand 's exports to Korea would  have duties fully 
eliminated in linear reductions over 15 years. New  Zealand 's tariffs on Kore an imports would be 
eliminated in a similar fashion over seven years.  
1.18.   The Agreement include d a range of other features which categorize d it as modern and 
forward -looking. These include d commitments on government procurement, intellectual property 
and trade remedies, as well as provisions covering rules of origin, cooperation on customs 
procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade and movement of 
business persons.  
1.19.   The Agreement also include d chapters on labour and environment , only the second time 
New Zealand ha d included these in the body of a trade agreement. The labour chapter promote d 
labour rights and cooperation on labour issues, while the environment chapter encourage d sound 
environmental policies.  
1.20.   A number of chapters  of the FTA establish ed mechanisms which facilitate d future 
cooperation between New  Zealand and Korea . One of them was a n audio-visual co-production 
Annex that increase d the scope for cultural and economic cooperation and collaboration between 
the New  Zealand and Korean screen industries.  WT/REG3 67/M/1 
 
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  1.21.   The Agreement was  New Zealand 's tenth agreement notified to the CRTA. It add ed to 
New Zealand 's already comprehensive network of agreements in the Asia Pacific region.  
1.22.   He stressed that New Zealand remain ed deeply committe d to the multilateral trading 
system and to advancing trade liberalisation through negotiations under the WTO framework.  In 
this context, New Zealand  viewed the pursuit of high quality regional trade agreements such as 
the Korea -New Zealand FTA as compleme ntary and consistent with th e important multilateral 
framework, and consider ed such agreements as making a useful contribution to moving 
multilateral trade negotiations forward, by highlighting t he benefits of liberalisation. Members 
wishing to gain a grea ter understanding of the Agreement were encouraged to visit the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and Trade website, which include d the full text of the Agreement and additional 
relevant material.  
1.23.   The representative of Thailand  thanked the Parties for the compre hensive introduction and 
for their response to its written questions on rules of origin, disciplines relating to competition, 
labour , and indicators of trade liberalization under the Agreement. She reserved the right to come 
back with further questions, if  necessary.  
1.24.   The representative of Japan  thanked the Parties for providing a detailed response to its 
question on IPR. His capital was considering the response and should there be any additional 
questions, he would submit them in writing.  
1.25.   The representative  of the European Union  noted the rather long phase -in period for the 
tariff liberalization schedule for some products. The EU had also observed that the Agreement 
contained some provisions that were limited to mirroring existing WTO rules, such as in the a rea of 
SPS and TBT, also confirmed by the Parties in response to the EU's questions on these issues. In 
the area of sustainable development, the EU had noted that the Parties would set out their joint 
work only in the future. The EU had also posed a questi on on government procurement and had a 
follow -up question that it would submit  in writing. She asked if  the Parties could clarify if all the 
public/private partnership types of project and concessions were covered under the government 
procurement chapter a nd if not, what type s of public/private partnership projects were covered.  
1.26.   The representative of the Republic of Korea  said the Parties would provide a detailed written 
response to the question.  
1.27.   The Chairman  said that the consideration of the Goods and Ser vices Aspects of the FTA 
between the Republic of Korea and New Zealand ha d allowed the Committee  to clarify a number of 
questions and it could now  conclude oral discussion of this RTA in accordance with paragraph 11 of 
the Transparency Mechanism. If any de legations wish ed to ask follow -up questions they were 
invited to forward submissions in writing to the Secretariat by 4 October 2016 and Parties were 
asked to submit replies in writing by no later than 18 October 2016. In accordance with 
paragraph  13 of th e Transparency Mechanism all written submissions, as well as minutes of this 
meeting would  be circulated promptly, in all WTO  official languages, and would  be made available 
on the WTO website . 
1.28.   The Committee took note  of the comments made.  
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