1. The WTO Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) will examine the Korea-Chile FTA on July 26 
and 27 in Geneva. 

2. The WTO’s CRTA examines whether the FTAs concluded by WTO members is consistent with the WTO 
regulations and informs other members of the contents of the regional agreement.

* This is the first examination on the Korea-Chile FTA, and a regional agreement is usually examined more 
than three times. So far, no FTA has been judged to be in violation of WTO rules.

3. At this investigation, the Korean delegation will explain that the Korea-Chile FTA has liberalized 
substantially all trade and abides by the WTO regulations. Korea will also stress that both the Korean and 
Chilean governments have effectively expanded bilateral trade through the FTA without increasing any trade 
barriers against other WTO members.

4. The Korea-Chile FTA is the first trans-Pacific FTA and in the first year following its effectuation (April 2004-
March 2005), bilateral trade increased by 48.2% compared to that of the previous year. During this period, 
the overall increase in trade was more than 24.1% and Korea’s exports and imports to Chile increased by 
57.8% and 44.4%, respectively, evidence of the economic benefits from the FTA.

                                                       Spokesperson for MOFAT

* unofficial translation