South Korea will expand preferential tariff benefits for poorly developed countries as part of its international commitment to helping developing economies and promote global balanced growth, the Finance Ministry said Friday.

The government will add 253 products from 48 poorly developed countries to the list of goods exempted from import duties starting next year, according to the ministry. It now offers such tax benefits to a total of 4,549 products.

The move will raise the tax-free ratio for products shipped overseas from such nations from the 90 percent figure this year to 95 percent, the ministry noted.

The newly-added items include shirts, trousers, jackets, fruit juice, wine, whiskey and other agricultural goods, the ministry said. However, crude oil, rice, beef, garlic and other products that can hurt domestic businesses and producers were excluded.

South Korea first started allowing products from the least developed economies to enter the country duty-free in 2000 at the recommendation of the World Trade Organization.

The government has expanded those tariff benefits over the past years to nations such as Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal and Ethiopia, whose per-capita income is below $905.

The government offered tax exemption to only 93 products before 2007 but has pushed to expand such benefits significantly, aiming to raise the tax-exemption ratio to 95 percent by 2012.

Products from poorly developed countries accounted for 0.6 percent of South Korea’s total imports in 2007 and inched up to 0.8 percent in the first half of this year. The ministry expects that the ratio will increase to 1 percent thanks to the expanded tax benefits.
 

(Yonhap News)