[Ip-health] [KoreaHerald] Seoul reaffirms FTA stance

[heeseob nam]

Seoul reaffirms FTA stance

Seoul reaffirmed its stance on major issues at the ongoing free trade
talks with Washington amid an impasse and intensifying opposition to
the deal.

The Finance Ministry yesterday released a statement elucidating
reasons behind the current impasse, refuting fast-emerging criticisms
over the government`s strong free trade agreement drive.

"As we began to reform price standards for medicine after the launch
of FTA talks, Washington condemned it for violating negotiation
rules," the ministry`s Kim Sung-jin said.

"But this is what U.S. pharmaceuticals think. We don`t think of it that way."

During the second round of talks held in Seoul last week, delegates
from both nations ended talks a day earlier than scheduled due to
sharp differences over pharmaceuticals.

Seoul has been carrying forward the long-waited reform plan of the
pharmaceutical industry, which aims to apply insurance coverage to
only the most effective drugs in terms of price and efficacy.

Insurance experts estimate that the reform will drastically bring down
the nation`s medical insurance burden.

But the U.S. administration and drugmakers harshly oppose the scheme,
claiming that several costly American-made drugs may lose insurance
benefits due to the new policy.

"Since the medicine price reform has been held for 30 years, we will
consistently push it forward," Kim stressed.

The ministry also firmly rebutted rising nationwide criticism of the FTA.

While many civic groups are concerned that the agreement will stifle
several of Korea`s industries and further widen economic disparity,
Seoul has high hopes that it will create more jobs and boost exports.

"The exports from Mexico and Canada to the United States expanded
substantially after NAFTA," the Finance Ministry noted in a statement,
referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement.. "This
demonstrated that the Korea-U.S. FTA could reinvigorate stagnant
exports to America," it added.

The ministry additionally refuted worries that NAFTA aggravated
Mexico`s income distribution, saying "such claims are illogical."

It pointed out that Mexico suffered such setbacks not because of
NAFTA, but because of its delayed economic restructuring and political
problems.

(kkt@heraldm.com)

By Ko Kyoung-tae

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HeeSeob Nam
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