한국의 일반특혜관세제도(GSP) 도입 추진 방향 (The Study on Introduction of Korea's GSP Scheme)

Korea's preferential agreements with developing countries include FTAs with ASEAN countries and Chile, the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement(APTA), and the Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP). Most importantly, the new round of APTA and GSTP agreements have not yet been initiated. But increases in their existing level of concession under APTA and GSTP will limit the scope of GSP treatments in Korea. In particular, the issues related to ‘redundancy in preferences' and ‘preference erosion' should be carefully considered when introducing the GSP scheme into Korea. Chapter IV then examines the economic effects of the GSP on Korea and beneficiary countries. Clearly, the GSP program will affect trade flows and production patterns in both Korea and developing countries. However, it is not clear whether Korea and beneficiary countries would benefit from the introduction of GSP into Korea because GSP tariff cuts could result in not only efficiency gains but also welfare losses. In this regard, we use a CGE model to see how real GDP and welfare will be affected by tariff preferences under the GSP. The results show that economic benefits are expected in both Korea and developing countries, but the scale of the economic impact depends on the range of beneficiary countries which receive benefits from the GSP and the degree of openness in sensitive sectors. This suggests that Korea needs to consider the introduction of GSP in the strategic context. Chapter V concludes by discussing the policy directions for the key components of the GSP program such as the determination of country-eligibility and product-eligibility requirements, graduation rules, rules of origin and so on. This study proposes a gradual implementation of the GSP program as an effective and feasible approach for introducing GSP schemes into Korea. In the mid to long term perspective, Korea needs to make sure that its GSP scheme to cover the wide range of beneficiary countries and extend preferential market access to sensitive products