Opinions vary over the impact of the yet to be ratified FTA with the EU. Some sources say the impact will be less dramatic than that of Chilean wines after the Chilean FTA.
The Korean herald states:
Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries expected wine and cheese imports to increase. “A lot of European countries have high quality wines, and customers will favor European wine with cheaper prices through the FTA.
(March 26 2009)
>>>Of course, we can always expect the Korean government to extol the virtues of FTAs.
The European Union – Korea Free Trade Agreement Sustainability Impact Assessment, presented to Brussels, states:
Earlier FTAs such as Korea-Chile have had significant effects in certain sectors such as wine. An EU-Korea FTA is not expected to have as much of an effect on the agriculture and fishery industries of Korea as the KORUS FTA. The EU is expected to concentrate on expanding exports of processed foodstuffs such as alcoholic beverages and processed dairy products such as butter and cheese. (February 21, 2008)
>>This is much more realistic.
In terms of the premium market, I see sales and prices remaining at constant high levels, 100,000-150,000 won a bottle for good vintages.
But what of the mid-range? Will prices fall? I sincerely hope so, France has a lot of good wine, we just don’t get to taste. If mid-range producers can be picked up by Korean importers and sold at reasonable prices without the huge government duty being applied then there is hope for all of us.
Oh, and I forgot to say, I think prices of French mid-range wine will fall 25% after the FTA comes in affect late 2009.