FTA Negotiation to Be Divided into Three Steps to Collect Public Opinions

An administrative ordinance, which designates the government to collect the opinions of the people concerned during the procedure of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiation, will be prepared. At the regular meeting of the ministers held on March 9, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade disclosed that it will draw up the “Ordinances related to FTA negotiation procedure” by the end of May which will stipulate in detail the procedures for FTA negotiations.

This measure follows the indication which points out that due to the lack of relevant regulations, the enervation of clarity and credence, and the conflicts of attrition as to the FTA negotiation procedure has repeatedly occurred, lowering the capacity of negotiation.

“The ordinances will be a sort of manual for FTA negotiation,” said Jung In-kyun, the chief of the Mutual Trade and Cooperation Department of the Foreign Ministry, adding, “We will divide the procedure into three steps such as pre-negotiation, during, and post, in order to judge the propriety of the negotiation and collect the opinions of the people concerned along every steps.”

In addition, the ministry has decided to establish three brand-new departments-- the “FTA Propulsion Committee”, ”FTA Working Group,” and “FTA Counterpart Inspecting Committee”-- which will take charge of the practical functions, and empowered the Minister’s Committee for International Economy as the top level decision-making organization.

The FTA Propulsion Committee will compose of 30 experts from the government and civilian sectors and inspect on the appropriateness of the FTA propulsion, its strategy, and negotiation bill.

The FTA Working Group will have bureau director level official on its head and play the role of preparing for FTA related items.

The FTA Counterpart Inspecting Committee will consist of 30 international economic experts and examine thoroughly on the propriety of the FTA propulsion.

Ji-Wan Cha cha@donga.com