By Kim Da-ye
Executives of European firms operating in Korea pressed Seoul to remove more of its non-tariff barriers Friday.
In its annual press conference in Seoul, the EU Chamber of Commerce in Korea (EUCCK), a business lobby, called on Korea to remove duplicated testing and vetting of a wide range of European products that meet global standards, and comply with international intellectual property rights standards.
“While the (Korea-EU) FTA will address tariff barriers..., there are still many market access issues that remain to be tackled,” said Jean Marie Hurtiger, EUCCK president and CEO of Renault Samsung Motors, pointing specifically at the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and automotive sectors.
“Numerous violations of intellectual property rights remain despite Korea having the best legislation in the region to protect intellectual property,” the Frenchman said. The annual conference was the last before the effectuation of the Korea-EU FTA on July 1.
Maxim Mamin, chairman of the medical devices committee and a business development director for Siemens Healthcare Korea, said European manufacturers are required to carry out additional tests for approval in Korea although products already comply with international standards and certifications.
For instance, Korean authorities require imported devices to be locally tested at 380 volts/60 Hz, while they have been globally allowed to run under various power conditions.
Kay Paeng, the chairman for the kitchen appliance committee and the managing director for Groupe SEB, raised similar concerns, saying overseas agencies hardly perform types of hygiene tests required by Korean authorities and businesses have to import 100 kilograms of the products just for testing.
The products have to be returned or discarded when they do not meet the Korean standard, Paeng said, adding that the amount of samples for testing needs to be minimized.
Friedrich Gause, the chairman of the pharmaceutical committee and head of Bayer HealthCare Korea, stressed that Korea’s pricing and reimbursement system fails to properly compensate for innovative drugs and discriminates against serious research and development investors.
Furthermore, Barry Howe, the vice chairman of the environment and energy committee and chief of Alstom’s Korean operation, criticized the all talk no action taken on cooperation for green growth.
“There is the danger of under-achievement if Korea attempts to tackle these issues on its own. EU companies are ready to invest in strategic partnerships in this field but, with just some exceptions, we are not detecting much real eagerness on the Korean side to collaborate.”
Hurtiger reiterated the main concepts of the A280 strategy which the lobby proposed back in 2008 for advancing the Korean economy.
Under the three principle of transparency, consistency and predictability, the EUCCK set eight goals including liberalizing financial services, boosting the service sector, stepping up intellectual property protection, recognizing international standards and testing procedures, implementing comprehensive energy policies, building up a sustainable health and pension system, consistently fostering small and medium-size enterprises and adopting flexible labor policies.
It also recommended that the government aim for a zero-corruption society as foreign investors see it as a source of business risk.
![Earth is suffering [PHOTOS]](http://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/newsV2/images/Y2021021900416_2e5f2c74ca18f.jpg/dims/resize/268/optimize)
