EU–South Korea free trade agreement: Lack of awareness most important factor behind underutilisation
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Import & export
About trade
Published: 01 Jul 2021
The EU–South Korea free trade agreement has been in use for ten years. But how has it been used? The Swedish government agency National Board of Trade has asked Swedish companies that trade with South Korea about their experiences.
About 200 companies answered the survey and participated in interviews in the summer and fall of 2020.
– We are pleased to find that most companies that are aware of the free trade agreement also use it. This is true for all companies, regardless of size, says Senior Adviser Jonas Kasteng, one of the authors of the report.
The conception that rules of origin could be a major obstacle for companies and contribute to the underutilisation of a free trade agreement is not confirmed by this survey. Instead, the main reason is rather that companies are unaware of the free trade agreement and the opportunities it provides.