This is a relatively simple FTA including both goods and services. Its primary intention is to replicate between the UK and Korea the pre-existing benefits of the Korea-EU FTA to which the UK was a party until 31st December 2020.

Under the UK-Korea FTA, most goods and services are able to pass freely between the UK and Korea without duty/tariff or VAT. Customs clearance will be required. This agreement effectively “inherits the clock” used by the Korea-EU FTA which aimed to reduce all duties/tariffs over a period of time starting in July 2011. Under that clock, the vast majority of finished fashion and accessories goods were exempt of all duty from day one of the agreement but some yarns and textiles would be phased out over time.

UK-Korea (South) Free Trade Agreement

• Official name: Continuity Free Trade agreement between the UK and the Republic of Korea
• Parties/territories: The United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea, also known as South Korea (referred to as Korea)
• Disambiguation: This agreement does not cover the “Democratic Republic of Korea”, also known as North Korea, or any goods or any goods or services originating in North Korea
• Date of entry into force: 01.01.2021

UKFT has created a guide to give a basic overview of this new agreement, including details on:

• Duty arrangements under the FTA from start
• If not 0% at start, what other arrangements are expected
• Fashion & Textile HCC categories included on a duty free basis
• Fashion & Textile HCC categories which will still attract duty/quota
• Other restrictions
• Rules of Origin (RoO) requirements to qualify for the FTA
• Mechanism for exporters to register/demonstrate RoO compliance
• VAT required on import/export at the border
• Labelling requirements for goods in target country
• Standards and requirements
• Intellectual property issues
• GDPR issues
• Special advice for companies selling B2C online
• How does this FTA replicate/differ from previous FTAs the UK enjoyed as a member of the EU
  single market up to 31st December 2020

This document is intended to help UK companies to understand the potential for their business as an exporter to the country concerned. In some cases, it may also be useful for companies importing from that country but this is not the primary focus of this document.