WT/REG375/M/1  
 
29 September 2017 
(17-5214) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
Eighty -sixth Session    
 
 
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT  BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC  OF KOREA AND COLOMBI A,  
(GOODS AND SERVICES)  
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 20 SEPTEMBER  2017 
Chairman: Ambassador Walid DOUDECH (Tunisia)  
1.1.  The 86th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter 'CRTA' or the 
'Committee') was convened in Airgram  WTO/AIR/RTA/11 dated 9 August 2017 . 
1.2.  Under Agenda Item C.I of the Session, the CRTA considered the  Free Trade Agreement 
between the Republi c of Korea and  Colombia , goods and services,  (hereinafter "the Agreement").  
1.3.  The Chairman  said that the Agreement had entered into force on 15 July 2016.  It had been 
notifie d to the WTO by the Parties on 5  October 2016 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/REG3 75/N/1)  and under GATS  Article  V:7(a) as an 
Agreement providing for the liberalization of trade in services within t he meaning of Article V of the 
GATS (document S/C/N/ 868). The text of the Agreement wa s available, together with its Annexes, 
on the Parties' official websites.  
1.4.  The Factual Presentation on the goods and services aspect s (document  WT/REG 375/1 dated 
10 July 2017) and questions and replies on th e Agreement (documents WT/REG375 /2 and 
WT/REG375/2/Corr.1 dated 14 and 15 September 2017 respectively ) had been distributed . 
1.5.  The representative of the Republic of Korea  thanked  the Secretariat for preparing the 
meeting  and the Factual Presentation, as well as Members for their interest and insightful 
questions on the  Agreement. He also thank ed Colombia for its cooperation in jointly preparing for 
the Session with Korea.  
1.6.  Korea value d the Committee's work to ensure the tr ansparency of RTAs and evaluate their 
consistency with WTO rules. Th e procedure also allow ed Members to be informed of recent 
developments on other Members ' RTAs and provide d opportunities for deeper understanding on 
them.  
1.7.  Korea and Colombia maintained st rong ties dating back to the Korean War, in which Colombia 
had been  the only South American nation to participate. The Parties  had initiated FTA negotiations 
in December 2009 with a goal to extend political ties to a deeper economic interdependence. The y 
had concluded the FTA negotiations in February 2013 and had brought the Agreement into force in 
July 2016. As of 2016, the first year of the Agreement , two-way trade in goods between Korea and 
Colombia st ood at US$1.29 billion. Korea 's exports to Colombia amount ed to US$853 million , while 
the volume of imports from Colombia was US$433 million.  
1.8.  The tr ade between Korea and Colombia wa s complementary in the sense that Korea export ed 
industrial products such as automobiles, auto parts and chemicals to Colombia while Colombia 
export ed natural resources and agricultural products to Korea, such as coal, coffee, copper and 
aluminium.  
1.9.  The Agreement  was comprehensive and high -standard , and aimed at fostering a favo urable 
environment for free trade and investment. In t he area of goods, in the second year of the WT/REG375/M/1  
 
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  Agreement, 82.4% of Korean tariffs and 60.6% of Colombian tariff s had been eliminated, with 
virtually all remaining tariffs to be lifted by 2036 except for those excluded from the commitments 
of the Parties. Korea believe d that the Agreement wa s fully consistent with the WTO obligation s of 
both countries and it built  upon and went further than the two countries ' WTO commitments in 
many areas.  
1.10.   In regard to services and investment, the Agreement provide d GATS -plus outcomes for the 
Parties ' respective service suppliers, including but not limited to business, communication, 
engineering, distribution, education, and environmental services.  
1.11.   The Agreement 's disciplines and commitments went beyond market access in goods a nd 
services and extend ed to other important areas such as the 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 the complementary bilateral  
trade structures of the two countries. Specifically, it include d a separate chapter for cooperation, 
which provide d detailed provisions for closer cooperation in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, 
forestry, energy and mineral resources.  
1.13.   The Agreement  was delivering new business opportunities for Korean enterprises with 
reduced tariff rates and rules of origin. Already, Korean industries were enjoying immediate 
benefits from preferential tariffs in the sectors of automobiles, auto parts, chemicals, cel l phones, 
and home appliances. At the same time, Colombian industries were enjoying benefits for products 
such as coffee, flowers and ferronickel. The Agreement  would  serve as a model of a win -win FTA 
by further boosting both Parties' exports while stimula ting more bilateral investment and vitalizing 
both economies.  
1.14.   Finally, he thank ed Members for their participation in th e Session and the Secretariat for its 
hard work. He was  grateful to the EU, Thailand, Canada, Mexico and El Salvador for submitting 
questions on  the Agreement and looked  forward to a fruitful discussion.  
1.15.   The representative of Colombia  thank ed the Secretariat and officials from Korea for working 
together to pre pare the documents for  the consideration of the Agreement . He also thanked 
Members for their interest  in the Agreement.  
1.16.   Since the early 1990s, Colombia's trade policy ha d been focused on the liberalization of 
trade in goods, services and investment. During  the first stage of the policy, agreements had been  
negotiated with countries that were in geographical proximity to Colombia.  
1.17.   In the second stage, which had taken  place during the first decade of the 2000s, free trade 
agreements had been  negotiated with C olombia's main trading partners, such as the United States 
and the European Union, and with countries of the European Free Trade Association, Canada and 
the Northern Triangle of Central America (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador).  
1.18.   The third stage of the policy was geared to strengthening relations with the countries of the 
Asia-Pacific region and Oceania. The negotiation of the FTA between Colombia and Korea had been  
initiated in December  2009. The Agreement had been  signed by the trade ministers of both 
countries in February  2013 and had entered into force on 15  July 2016.  
1.19.   This was Colombia's first trade agreement with an Asian country. Diplomatic relations 
between the two countries had begun in March  1962, which represent ed more than half a century 
of political relations. Colombia  believe d that the Agreement would  be pivotal in strengthening the 
Parties'  bilateral economic relationship.  
1.20.   Historically, trade between the countries ha d mostly involved exportation from Colombia of 
primary goods; mainly coal, coffee, crude oil, ferro -nickel, scrap metal and flowers. Exports from 
Korea ha d mostly consisted of industrial goods such as vehicles and parts, chemicals and 
metallurgical products . WT/REG375/M/1  
 
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  1.21.   Colombia hope d that th e Agreement would  serve as a gateway to other countries in Asia. 
Colombia  continue d to work on the diversification of its trading partners and saw great potenti al in 
that region, where there wa s a larger presence of its firms every day. 
1.22.   Colombia was  confident that the Agreement would  be implemented in a way which dr ove 
investment in strategic sectors. Colombia  also hope d to conclude eligibility processes in the short 
or medium term so that goods from its agricultural sector could  enjoy preferential conditions of 
access to the Korean  market.  
1.23.   Furthermore, Colombia  hoped that the Agreement would  help to establish value chains and 
to identify cooperation projects that generate d synergies, mutual understanding and the sharing of 
experience s to promote growth and reduce gaps in knowledge for the benefit of the populations in 
both countries.  
1.24.   The FTA between Colombia and Korea had been  negotiated under the rules of the 
multilateral trading system. It complie d with Article XXIV of the GATT 1994  for trade in goods and 
with Article V of the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services.  
1.25.   The agreed disciplines for trade in goods include d the elimination of tariffs on most products 
in ten years and for more sensitive goods within a longer period of tim e that d id not exceed 
19 years following the entry into force of the Agreement. Moreover, only a small number of tariff 
lines ha d market access under tariff quotas.  
1.26.   Regarding services, the purpose of the Agreement was to establish disciplines to reduce 
distortions and discriminatory treatment, and to introduce conditions of certainty and transparency 
for services and service providers of both countries. Furthermore, disciplines were established in 
the areas of telecommunications and e -commerce with a view t o facilitating access to the market 
of the other Party, achieving transparency and guaranteeing free competition, among other 
objectives. These chapters ha d been reinforced by agreed provisions on investment, which were 
aimed at generating a fair and trans parent legal context to increase capital flows between the 
Parties.  
1.27.   To conclude he again thanked the Secretariat, the Korean delegation and Members that in 
one way or another had made the consideration of the Agreement possible.  
1.28.   The representative of El Sa lvador  said the Factual Presentation had been  of great use in 
capital. El Salvador had submitted questions on services. She thanked the Parties for their 
presentations and said El Salvador had no further questions.  
1.29.   The representative of Thailand  thanked the Parties for their responses to its questions on 
communication, distribution and environmental services. Thailand also appreciated the clarification 
regarding co -operation in the competition and consumer policy area. If Thailand ha d further 
questions it would submit  them in writing.  
1.30.   The representative of the European Union  thanked the Parties for their comprehensive 
presentations. The EU recognized the ambitious liberalization of trade in goods among the Parties 
with approximately 96% of tariff lines and 98% of imports liberalized, but over a period exceeding 
ten years. The EU had submitted a number of questions on TBT, customs related procedures, and 
on the commitments on co -operation under the Agreement. She thanked the Parties for their 
replie s and said the EU had no further questions.  
1.31.   The representative of Canada  thanked the Parties for their response s to its written 
questions.  
1.32.   The representative of Mexico  thanked the Parties for the responses to its questions and said 
Mexico had no further qu estions.  
1.33.   The representative of the United States  said both Parties were important trading partners 
for the United States and he appreciated the comprehensive presentations on the Agreement. He 
commended the Parties on a strong Agreement with excellent tari ff coverage and GATS plus WT/REG375/M/1  
 
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  services liberalization using a negative list approach. The United States had no additional 
questions.  
1.34.   The Chairman  said that consideration of the Goods and Services Aspects of the Free Trade 
Agreement between the Republic of Kore a and Colombia ha d allowed the Committee  to clarify a 
number of questions and it could  now conclude oral discussion of th e RTA in accordance with 
paragraph 11 of the Transparency Mechanism. If any delegations wish ed to ask follow -up 
questions they were inv ited to forward submissions in writing to the Secretariat by 27  September 
2017 and Parties were asked to submit replies in writing by no later than 11  October 2017. In 
accordance with paragraph  13 of the Transparency Mechanism all written submissions, as w ell as 
minutes of this meeting would be circulated promptly, in all WTO  official languages, and would  be 
made available on the WTO website.  
1.35.   The Committee took note  of the comments made.  
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