• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.74
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• pp.125-150
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• 2017

Environment protection is one of the important political goals along with trade liberalization. Some of the institutions associated with it, however, either hinder trade or exert distorted influence and can arouse trade conflicts eventually. Therefore, harmony between environment protection and trade policy is becoming a crucial issue nowadays. Among the policies for environment, those related to climatic change are regarded as major tasks to deal with in the world commonly. Saying that it is for environment protection, advanced countries impose fines for environment protection on developing countries through border tax adjustments about the items imported from them. However, there is no such agreement about it internationally, so disputes often arise regarding what extent is appropriate as countries cope with it differently in their own way. Disputes about measures for climatic change are highly influential economically, and due to the severe conflicts of interests between states, they often tend to become politicized. Accordingly, we can say that such disputes affect international trade based on the WTO system seriously. When it comes to negotiation for climatic change, we should establish international systems urgently which can work fairly and effectively for all the countries joining in it. Therefore, it is important to examine the treatment of trade restriction measures intended to solve climatic change in international negotiations and establish definite conditions about which measures are allowed and which are not. In conclusion, we should devise rules for environment protection internationally which all the countries in the world can accept and agree on and also make the definite criteria of interpretation as well. Also, through those trade regulations, we should be able to accomplish environment protection globally and at the same time produce synergy, that is, economic growth through trading.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.1-20
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• 2023

Purpose - Using trade data from 2008 to 2019, this study analyzes the impact of trade facilitation on China's agricultural exports under the RCEP framework using a gravity model based on the level of trade facilitation in 13 RCEP countries. Design/methodology - This study constructs a complete set of trade facilitation index systems, comprehensively measures the trade facilitation level of RCEP member countries, and uses a gravity model to verify the critical role of trade facilitation level in enhancing the trade volumes of RCEP member countries. Findings - We found that trade facilitation has a significant impact on China's agricultural exports as a whole. The effect of each primary indicator varies in magnitude, with finance and e-commerce (F) having the most significant impact, followed by customs efficiency (C) and infrastructure development (1); the institutional environment has no significant effect. Originality/value - This study analyzes the impact of trade facilitation on China's agricultural exports from the perspective of exports, and uses the latest data to study the degree of the impact of trade facilitation in importing countries. Measures to jointly enhance trade facilitation among member countries under the RCEP framework are proposed.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.177-191
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• 2019

Global trade protectionism has increased further and U.S. priorities and protectionism have strengthened since Trump took office in 2017. Trump administration is actively implementing tariff measures based on U.S. domestic trade laws rather than the WTO rules and regulations. In particular, the American government has recently been imposing high tariffs due to national security and imposing economic sanctions on other countries' imports. According to the U.S. Trade Expansion Act Section 232, the American government imposed additional tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to WTO member countries such as China, India, and EU etc. on march 15, 2018. Thus, this study aims to investigate whether the U.S. Trade Expansion Act Section 232 is consistent with GATT/WTO rules by comparing the legal basis of US / China / WTO regulations related to Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act, and gives some suggestions for responding to the Section 232 measure. As the Section 232 measure exceeded the scope of GATT's Security Exceptions regulation and is very likely to be understood as a safeguard measure. If so, the American government is deemed to be in breach of WTO's regulations, such as the most-favored-nation treatment obligations and the duty reduction obligations. In addition, American government is deemed to be failed to meet the conditions of initiation of safeguard measure and violated the procedural requirements such as notification and consultation. In order to respond to these U.S. protection trade measures, all affected countries should actively use the WTO multilateral system to prevent unfair measures. Also, it is necessary to revise the standard jurisdiction of the dispute settlement body and to explore the balance of the WTO Exception clause so that it can be applied strictly. Finally, it would be necessary for Chinese exporters to take a counter-strategy under such trade pressure.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.231-246
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• 2019

Circumvention refers to the situation in which exporters try to circumvent import restrictions by setting up factories in third countries and assembling and producing parts locally. Circumvention dumping eliminates the impacts of existing anti-dumping measures, and major countries are introducing anti-circumvention dumping laws to address this problem. If the act of the exporting country is recognized as a circumvention dumping activity, anti-dumping duties are applied retroactively to the imported goods or components. Evasion is an act of importation that results in the reduction or non-application of cash deposits, securities, or anti-dumping or countervailing duties, in a manner that is substantive or false, substantive or omission. In this article, we reviewed the contents and examples of the anti-circumvention measures by the US Department of Commerce (DOC), the International Trade Commission (ITC), and the Anti-Evasion measures by the CBP. The CBP examples show how much inference can be made about which parts of the CBP's investigations, and in what ways. The enactment of the EAPA created an environment in which the role of the CBP was directly guaranteed, and it was possible to apply adverse inferences to those who did not respond to requests for information, resulting in stronger CBP's authority. Therefore, it is advisable for Korea to examine the introduction of domestic laws, such as the bypass anti-dumping system, in order to cope with unfair trade practices that undermine and neutralize the effects of anti-dumping measures.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.1278-1295
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• 2014

The Sixteenth Meeting of the Conferences of Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which was held in March 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand, listed five shark species and one genus, and uplisted one sawfish species. All new species listings will be come into force of the eighteen months delay, on the fourteenth of September, 2014. The purpose of the delay is to support the preparation of the domestic measures on shark trade by the parties, as there has been no previous experience in trading the commercially exploited aquatic species in the CITES. The CITES Secretary-General has visited several potential shark trade countries to encourage and facilitate the implementation of the new CITES listings. The newly listed sharks have been caught as a target or non-target species by Korean distant water fisheries and introduced into Korea. So the establishment or change of the domestic laws, regulations, and measures for the implementation of the new CITES species must be prepared before the effective entry date. This paper is prepared to assess the effects of the trade of the CITES listed shark species, and to suggest effective government service measures for the management of Korean distant water fisheries. The Ministry of Environment (MOE) is the general Management Authority of the CITES, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) is in charge of the medical trade of CITES listed species in Korea. By law, all imported medicines and medical materials must be inspected by the MFDS during the customs examination; this kind of authority sharing is reasonable and effective way of providing government service. Similarly, the designation of new CITES Management Authority for the trade of commercially exploited aquatic CITES species is critical and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), which is now in charge of the trade of fisheries products, is the most appropriate governing body for this purpose in Korea. The revision of the National Plan of Action for Conservation and Management of Sharks, initially submitted to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 2011 as a practical guideline for shark conservation in all Korean fisheries, could be a effective measure to achieve unification of conservation of endangered species and sustainable use of fisheries stocks. The proper CITES measures for the trade of listed species, such as the establishment of the documenting system for Non-detriment Findings, domestic measures suitable for the "Introduction from the Sea" clause, species specific Harmonized System Codes for the customs service, and an effective shark catch data reporting system should be in place prior to the fourteenth of September 2014.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.179-198
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• 2023

Purpose - There is a paucity of literature dealing with exporters' compliance issues in e-commerce exports. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by exploring customs initiatives to facilitate the e-commerce exports of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the changed compliance environment. The central question of this study was divided into five subquestions: first regarding the pros and cons of trade facilitation measures for Korean e-commerce export clearance; second and third questions about risk and compliance management for facilitation fourth about instruments, the changes in Korean SME compliance burden in e-commerce exports, and ways to improve trade facilitation for e-commerce exports. Design/methodology - This study adopts a qualitative approach using a case study method to understand the SME experience in Korean e-commerce export compliance procedures. A qualitative method was selected to answer research questions requiring an in-depth understanding of the regulatory procedures of customs administration and exporters' compliance burden. Because this study addresses the changing compliance environment for which statistical data is insufficient, a quantitative method is considered inappropriate. Based on the approach, data were collected using multiple sources, including an extensive literature review, interviews, and field observations. Thematic pattern matching was applied to interpret the data. Findings - This study examined ways to support SMEs in the changed e-commerce export compliance environment. Facilitation measures for e-commerce exports have contributed to SME access to global markets, simplifying export clearance procedures, and saving exporters' compliance costs. However, such instruments are limited in promoting SME compliance capabilities to cope with intensified competition and strengthened controls over foreign exporters in cross-border e-commerce. Therefore, this study highlights the importance of reshaping facilitation measures for e-commerce exports based on risk and compliance management theories to a system encouraging exporters' voluntary compliance. Originality/value - This study's academic significance derives from verifying the relationship between trade facilitation instruments and risk and compliance management procedures using an actual case in Korea. It is also of practical importance in navigating the directions for improving facilitation measures for e-commerce exports in a changed compliance environment.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.49
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• pp.409-434
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• 2011

SWIFT has designed Trade Services Utility(TSU) to meet the new paradigm of electronic trade. The Trade Services Utility is a matching and workflow application that sits on the SWIFT network. The TSU is designed to help banks offer advanced supply chain services to their corporate customers who are involved in open account trading. Nowadays, the Bank payment obligation(BPO) can optionally be included in a baseline by mutual consent. The BPO is an irrevocable and conditional obligation of an obligor bank(buyers bank) to pay a specified amount to seller's bank according to an established baseline of a single TSU transaction. Therefore, SWIFT enables its customers to automate and standardise financial transactions, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating inefficiencies from their operations. Whereas, Banks can use the core functionality of the Trade Services Utility to offer competitive services that complement existing services. But SWIFT need to come up with the measures of activating the TSU BPO. So, this paper is to introduce TSU BPO and check the measures for the activation of the TSU BPO under the electronic trade environment.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.196-208
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• 2018

This paper described the contents of the WTO (world trade organization) SPS (world trade organization) Agreement and trends in the WTO SPS provisions such as equivalence, localization, transparency, and risk assessment. The purpose of the WTO SPS agreement is to promote international trade by preventing arbitrary and unreasonable use of SPS measures, which are the rights of a country for the protection of human health and animal and plant health, and by abolishing the non-tariff barriers. To this end, the requirements for implementing the SPS measures taken by the importing country are restricted to those that can scientifically prove to be inevitable for SPS protection. The major provisions in WTO SPS agreement were elaborated to promote international trades. When trade-restricted SPS measures such as prohibition of imports are made, a scientific basis should be provided. Therefore, it is essential to provide scientific evidence based on risk analysis to protect people's health from potentially harmful imported foods.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.28
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• pp.63-88
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• 2005

Korean government is planning to develop the airport and its surrounding area into a Northeast Hub of Asia. In accordance with the Free Trade Zones Act, Incheon International Airport Corporation is in charge of developing the free trade zone which will be located adjacent to the airport cargo terminals. The free trade zone plays an important part for the promotion of international logistics. So the purpose of this paper is to make research on the activation measures of the airport free trade zone for the building of a hub of international logistics. As for the research, this paper reviews the current regulations of the Free Trade Zones Act. Also this paper analyzes recent plans and reports on the free trade zone by Incheon International Airport Corporation and Korean government authorities. As the results of this paper, it will contribute to the activation of the airport free trade zone, and to building Incheon International Airport into the logistics hub of Northeast Asia, and to the inducement of foreigner's investment in the free trade zone.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.33-71
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• 2021

Many different approaches and databases have been developed for the evaluation of non-tariff measures (NTMs) and free trade agreements (FTAs). This paper is devoted to the EU-South Korea agreement, which is the first 'second-generation' FTA of the EU, addressing a wide array of non-tariff policies. We review the evolution of NTM types applicable to the EU-South Korea trade relationship and the role of NTMs in ex-ante and ex-post analyses of the agreement. Subsequently a structural gravity model is employed to assess the value added of information on different aspects of FTAs and types of NTMs by evaluating their ability to predict the trade effects of the EU-South Korea FTA. Our results show that, when accounting for information on the components common in modern deep trade agreements, no additional trade effect is attributable to the EU-South Korea FTA. The evolution of NTMs differs considerably across indicators used, but trade predictions are hardly affected. Most specifications point towards a negative effect of bilateral differences in the number of technical barriers to trade (TBT) applied and sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) against which trading partners issued complaints at the WTO.