WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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South Korea, EU narrow differences over free trade
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-21 08:58 Separately, the EU's major business lobby urged Ashton to focus on achieving an ambitious agreement focused on market access as opposed to a speedy one.
"We urge you to deliver an agreement of the highest quality," Philippe de Buck, director general of BusinessEurope, which represents EU companies, wrote in a letter to Ashton released Monday. "The level of ambition must be more important than timing in reaching a conclusion." Ignacio Garcia Bercero, the EU's chief negotiator in the free trade talks with South Korea, said Tuesday that the scheduled March negotiations, which would be the eighth formal round, would take place at the chief negotiator level and would likely be held in Seoul. "Progress was made on many fronts," he said, though declined to provide details on discussions related to automobiles. EU and US automakers have long complained that meeting South Korean regulations and standards on imported vehicles increase their price and serve as a non-tariff trade barrier. South Korea and the EU are eager to conclude free trade agreements. South Korea reached one with the United States, its third-largest trading partner, in 2007, though the deal has languished in political limbo in both countries and awaits ratification in their legislatures.
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