KOREA/EU CLOSE TO AGREEMENT ON PHARMA DEAL

The Korea Foreign Trade Association and the European Commission, meeting in Seoul last month, expressed the hope that South Korea will harmonize duties on various products from the European Union and allow the EU's member countries to participate in the pharmaceutical sector.

Representing the EU, Vice President and Commissioner for external economic relations, Sir Leon Brittan, called for tariff cuts on imports from the EU and said that "we need a commitment from South Korea that no duty will be higher than, say, 20%, so that European products can more easily access the Korean market." He also urged Korea to relax some of its established restrictions on the conduct of business, in order to give all partners access to the internal process of liberalization.

Korea's Foreign Minister Han Sung-joo and Commissioner Brittan also agreed to form a Korea/EU "wisemen's club," to study ways to promote ties between the two regions towards the 21st century, and Mr Han asked EU countries to permit Korea to retain its generalized system of preference status until the country joins the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in early-1996.