Worldwide Customs and Regulatory Updates
Preparing for Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement - Certificate of Origin Exporter
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between South Korea and the European Union (EU) will be ratified later this year.
South Korea and the EU will eliminate or phase out tariffs on 96 percent of EU goods and 99 percent of South Korean goods within three years of the agreement taking effect. They have also agreed to abolish tariffs on most industrial goods within five years (source: Korea International Trade Association www.kita.org).
In order to take advantage of the elimination of tariffs after the agreement takes affect, domestic exporters shipping goods valued over 6,000 Euros to the EU must obtain a Certificate of Origin for the goods from Korea Customs Service. To obtain the Certificate of Origin, they must first apply for designation as a “Certificate of Origin Exporter”.
Korean companies that ship their goods to the EU should therefore take the necessary steps to become a “Certificate of Origin Exporter” as soon as possible.
Further details can be obtained at the Korea Customs Service FTA portal site as follows: http://fta.customs.go.kr/
Customers can also call the Korea Customs Service FTA Certificate helpline on 031-600-0760/0764.