[Ip-health] US and Korea suspend pharmaceutical talks in 5th round of FTA negotiations

[Mike Palmedo]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
http://voanews.com/english/2006-12-07-voa9.cfm

Seoul, Washington Suspend Major Areas of Free-Trade Talks

Voice of America
By Kurt Achin
Seoul
07 December 2006

South Korea and the United States have suspended free-trade talks in two cr=
itical areas, further decreasing the chance a successful deal will be reach=
ed by an important U.S. political deadline. Seoul is under fire for restric=
ting imports of medicines and beef, while it accuses the U.S. of unfairly p=
enalizing South Korean exports. VOA's Kurt Achin reports from the South Kor=
ean capital.

South Korea's chief negotiator on a free-trade deal, Kim Jong-hoon, says th=
e talks are on hold in two key areas.

Kim says the two sides have stopped discussing for now, trade remedies - or=
 the rules each country uses to protect its domestic producers - and pharma=
ceuticals.

Talks aimed at a free-trade agreement, or FTA, between South Korea and the =
United States began last June, and entered their fifth round this week in t=
he U.S. State of Montana. An agreement would make it easier for the two cou=
ntries to buy each other's products.

The negotiators are hoping to agree on a proposed FTA before next June, whe=
n President Bush loses the authority to submit a deal to Congress for a sim=
ple yes or no vote. After that point, Congress will be able to seek amendme=
nts to any trade deal, greatly complicating the chances of passage.

FTA supporters say a deal would boost the two countries' trade relationship=
, which already totals more than $70 billion a year, creating job and incom=
e opportunities on both sides.

However, both are also trying to protect domestic producers in politically =
sensitive areas from the effects of international competition.

South Korean producers say they have been excessively targeted by American =
allegations of "dumping" - the selling of products to another country for l=
ess than their cost of production.

The United States says South Korea's health care system unfairly protects K=
orean pharmaceutical producers, by reimbursing citizens only for drugs on a=
 government-approved list, which is comprised overwhelmingly of Korean prod=
ucts.

Wendy Cutler, Washington's senior negotiator at this week's FTA talks, accu=
ses the South Korean side of showing very little flexibility.

"The Koreans came to us and said, here is our package of proposals - can yo=
u say yes to all of them? We were not in a position to do so," she said.

The fact this week's talks are being held in Montana - a major U.S. beef-pr=
oducing region - is a reminder of another point of friction. Seoul has turn=
ed back three separate shipments of U.S. beef in the past month, saying the=
 presence of tiny bone fragments presented the risk of mad cow disease.

Seoul stopped all imports of American beef in 2003 after a cow with the dis=
ease was found in the U.S. Imports began again in November, under strict re=
gulations. U.S. producers say all U.S. beef is safe, and that South Korea i=
s searching for a pretext to block the imports.

Talks on 14 other trade areas are still going on in Montana, and some of th=
e most sensitive - especially those dealing with rice and other agricultura=
l imports - have not even been discussed yet.

Many South Koreans perceive agricultural imports as a serious threat to tra=
ditional Korean farming. South Korean farmers have made up the bulk of anti=
-FTA protesters on the streets of Seoul over the past 18 months.