The South Korea-New Zealand free trade agreement (FTA) will go into effect December 20.
 
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said South Korea’s Ambassador to New Zealand Kim Hae-yong and New Zealand’s chief negotiator of the trade deal, Martin Harvey, on Wednesday exchanged official letters confirming the effectuation date.
 
Trade between the two countries is expected to surge as a second round of tariff reductions are set to take place from January 1 in line with the FTA effectuation.
 
Following the effectuation, the government plans to set up a joint commission and subcommittees to coordinate implementation efforts and expand the accord’s advantages.
 
South Korea and New Zealand began negotiating their FTA in June 2009. They reached an agreement on the deal on November 15 of last year and officially signed it on March 23 this year in Seoul.