Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said on the 4th during a presidential policy briefing that the government will consider joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The CPTPP is an Asia-Pacific free trade agreement (FTA). If Korea joins the CPTPP, tariffs on most traded goods among member countries will be eliminated. In the past, the Korean government sought to join the CPTPP, but the effort fell through due to opposition from the agriculture and fisheries industries and concerns over restrictions on imports of seafood from Fukushima, Japan.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) aims to use the CPTPP as a springboard to expand exports of content and consumer goods to countries where Korean culture is popular, such as ASEAN members and Mexico. However, an official at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said this is an issue that will inevitably face pushback from the agriculture and fisheries industries and noted that a more cautious review is needed.
◇ Many CPTPP members are advanced in agriculture and fisheries… domestic agriculture and fisheries sectors likely to take a hit
The CPTPP's members are Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Brunei, for a total of 12 countries, many of which are advanced in agriculture and fisheries. If their agricultural and fishery products are imported without tariffs, prices of domestic agricultural and fishery products will inevitably fall sharply.
If Korea joins the CPTPP, imports are also likely to open for fresh fruits and fruit vegetables such as apples, pears, citrus, peaches, peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers, which have been banned due to plant pest risks. The scope of damage is expected to expand not only to farms growing staple crops like rice but also to fruit growers.
Efforts by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to boost the food self-sufficiency rate are also expected to face setbacks. The ministry has said it would raise the food self-sufficiency rate as part of food security. Korea's food self-sufficiency rate hit a record low of 44% in 2021 and has remained below 50% at 49.4% in 2022, 49.3% in 2023 and 48% in 2024.
Some suggest protecting sensitive items at the time of CPTPP accession through measures such as agricultural safeguards (emergency import restrictions). However, joining the CPTPP requires unanimous consent from all member countries, and the likelihood of that being granted is not high. In addition, there are views that such measures face limits because putting in place protections like safeguards requires offering appropriate compensation, such as lowering tariffs on other items.