The Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) enters into force today, opening up new opportunities for Australian companies to do business with the nation’s fourth largest trading partner.
Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb announced the entry into force date after the Korean National Assembly voted in support of KAFTA, and an ‘exchange of notes’ between Australia’s Ambassador in Seoul and the Korean Government took place.
“KAFTA’s entry into force at this time will mean that many Australian exporters will benefit from an immediate tariff cut by Korea, and a further tariff cut on 1 January 2015; shoring up our competitiveness in our third largest export market,” Mr Robb said.
Under KAFTA, tariffs will be eliminated on 84 per cent of Korea’s imports (by value) from Australia immediately on 12 December 2014. On full implementation of the agreement, 99.8 per cent of Australian goods exports will enter Korea duty free.
KAFTA is the first of three landmark agreements in the region to come into force, with agreements concluding with Japan in April and China last month.
Austrade website and DFAT’s website contains a wealth of information on KAFTA including a new guide for exporting and importing goods and legal text of the agreement.
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