Parliament passes bills on Korea-EU

The National Assembly on Thursday passed a package of safeguard bills aimed at protecting local industries from cheap imports after a free trade deal with the European Union (EU) takes effect in July. The free trade pact, approved by the parliament in April, will eliminate 98 percent of import duties and other trade barriers in manufactured goods, agricultural products and services between South Korea and the EU within the next five years. In a plenary session, lawmakers passed a revision bill strengthening regulations on retail giants, known as 'super supermarkets' (SSMs) to prohibit conglomerate-run supermarkets from opening in areas within a 1-kilometer radius of traditional markets, doubling the current cap of a 500-meter radius. A safeguard arrangement bill allows the nation to temporarily raise duties if there is a sufficient surge in imports of agriculture products that can hurt local businesses. Another bill outlines a plan to open the local accounting market in a gradual manner, instead of opening it all at once. The new copyright law extends the maximum duration of protection from the current 50 years to 70 years.