Farmers could boost exports to South Korea

The deal will eliminate 99 per cent of import tarriffs on imported goods and will see a boost in trade of manufactured goods and agricultural products, according to the European Parliament.

It will also see the removal of a 20 per cent import tarriff on whisky into South Korea, leading to hopes of a boost in whisky sales, & therefore increased demand for malting barley.

The parliament backed the agreement by 465 votes to 128, with 19 abstentions.

After the vote, Robert Sturdy, MEP, European Conservatives and Reformists group’s trade spokesman in the parliament, said: “This is a monumental deal for the EU and for Korea. Not just for the deal itself, but also as it is the first - and definitely not the last - of its kind.

“The EU is sending a clear signal to the world that we are open for international trade, particularly with emerging economies. I hope that the message will go forward to other countries, like India, and build momentum towards other bilateral trade deals.

“We should not give up on a multilateral trade deal through the WTO; but in the meantime we should seek as much trade liberalisation as possible bilaterally.

“In this time of economic difficulty we should never lose sight of the fact that open trade leads to cheaper goods, more and better jobs, and greater competitiveness. More trade is the ultimate answer to our problems and this deal will play an important part in our recovery.”

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