The South Korean government will enhance its response to growing non-tariff barriers in the world.

Lee In-ho, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE)`s deputy minister for international trade and investment, said on Wednesday the government came up with measures to better cope with non-tariff barriers, emphasizing the need of multilateral and aggressive responses to non-tariff barriers in the wake of growing protectionism and slow exports.

Non-tariff barriers are trade-restrictive measures used to control imports of foreign products through all methods other than tariffs, such as customs and certification regulation, hygiene regulation, quantity limit and import licenses. The World Trade Organization (WTO) recently warned of a worrying rise in new trade-restrictive measures taken by WTO member countries amid rising anti-globalization sentiments, lackluster global economy and increasing protectionism against multinational trade pacts that have been actively discussed in the recent few years.

To fight back the growing trade-restrictive measures, the Korean government will reinforce its pan-governmental response system, expand information sharing and increase support for research and development in the private sector.

Lee said non-tariff barrier program managers will be designated at each government agency who will update market situations. The ministry will also strengthen the pan-governmental cooperation system by supporting business consulting or negotiations with host governments.

In addition, the government will expand information on non-tariff barriers on the current trade information network TradeNAVI.or.kr. and provide step-by-step responses around promising products.

An industry ministry official said “consumer goods go through far more complex certification processes and the government will give detailed information on non-tariff barriers in these areas.”

The government will also seek to enhance the response capability against non-tariff barriers in the private sector by giving consulting on R&D of products tailored to prepare for overseas regulations and certification and intellectual property right.

The Korean economy, which heavily relies on exports, currently faces numerous challenges amid increasing protectionism that has led some of its major trading partners, such as the United States and China, to pursue trade-restrictive measures like anti-dumping duties on Korean imports. Its exports have been also on the steady decline since last year amid the slowing global economy.

By Ko Jae-man

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