SEOUL, KOREA - As the Korea-Canada free trade agreement is concluded after almost nine years of negotiations, keen attention is now paid to whether and how much the agreement would have negative effect on agriculture and fishery sectors. In particular, it is forecast that pork farmers, rather than cattle ranchers, will bear the brunt of the impact.

 

According to Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp. on March 11, the total 2012 volume of imports from Canada in agricultural, forestry, and fishery areas was US$1,182 million. This is about 40 percent of Australian primary goods imports in the same year. As for beef imports, the figure for last year was only $10.9 million although this is the segment that attracted most media attention before the agreement's conclusion. The countries from which Korea imported beef last year was Australia (55.6%), the United States (34.7%), New Zealand (8.8%), Canada (0.6%), Chile, Uruguay, and Mexico.

 

In 2013, the top import items from Canada were pulp ($291 million) and coniferous lumber ($151 million), both of which are already imported duty-free. When it comes to wheat, the No. 3 import item, whose 2013 Canada-originated import volume was $84 million, there is little domestic production to speak of.

 

Unlike the beef industry which is likely to be harmed little from Canadian competition, domestic pork producers have much to be worried about. The import volume of pork from Canada last year was 43,398 tons (valued at $79.76 million), the second highest after the United States (112,000 tons), but the fourth highest in value terms after the United States ($910 million), Germany ($313 million), and Chile ($120 million). To minimize the harm, the government will lower the duties on pork imports gradually for the next 13 years, instead of repealing the duties immediately.