SEOUL: Korea Customs Service (KCS) Commissioner Kim Nak-hoe, center in the front row, applauds with guests during the 2015 International Origin Conference at the JW Marriott Hotel in Seoul, Thursday. The KCS hosted the event.
The country’s customs authority hosted an international conference on free trade agreements (FTAs) Thursday, discussing ways to cooperate in dealing with country of origin issues.
Hundreds of customs officials from all over the world joined the event hosted by the Korea Customs Service (KCS) at the JW Marriott Hotel in Seoul, exchanging ideas on consolidating rules of origin under each FTA.
“The 2015 International Origin Conference is held to develop ways to unify complicated origin rules and procedures, which is an issue that has taken on greater significance in the process of consultation and implementation of FTAs,” said KCS Commissioner Kim Nak-hoe in his welcoming remarks.
The conference was held as the world’s two largest economies _ the U.S. and China _ are competing in global trade by signing mega FTAs. They have been eager to draw countries in the region to their partnerships.
In October, the U.S. signed with 11 countries a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, one of the largest mega FTAs in the world covering more than 40 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP). Key allies of the U.S., including Australia, Canada and Japan, joined the economic pact.
China is negotiating with 15 countries, including Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand, to strike a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), aiming to counter the TPP. The agreement, if completed, will cover 3.4 billion people, the largest among mega FTAs.
At the conference, Mette Azzam, a director at the World Customs Organization, explained about the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) which will simplify, harmonize and modernize international border procedures. She said the agreement will reduce trade costs by up to 15 percent, referring to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Craig Schenk, a senior customs officer from Australia, said it is hard to distinguish countries of origin because goods are no longer produced in one country, saying they are “made in the world.” He said this is a challenge for those agencies charged with protecting and regulating borders.
Costa Rica customs director Carlos Marin shared the experience of Central America in the implementation and use of the accumulation rule in FTAs. He said companies can accumulate materials in order to manufacture the final produce, representing more options of quality and prices of raw materials.
