The Diplomat
The agreement between Spain and South Korea on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters, signed last June 16 in Madrid during President Moon Jae-in’s state visit, will enter into force on December 24.
The text is in line with the agreements between South Korea and the EU on customs cooperation and assistance, as well as with international conventions on prohibitions, restrictions and special customs control measures. Also, as published in the Official State Gazette, the objective of the agreement is to combat customs infringements and illicit trafficking of narcotics, psychotropic substances and other dangerous substances and to ensure “the correct collection of customs duties and taxes on the import and export of goods and the correct application of prohibition, restriction and control measures”.
The journey of this agreement began more than ten years ago, specifically in March 2011, when the Customs and Excise Department of the State Agency of Tax Administration proposed, during a visit to Madrid by the Director General of Customs of Korea, the negotiation of an agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters between the two countries.
The Agreement between Spain and South Korea on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters was signed on June 16, 2021 in Madrid, after authorization by the Council of Ministers on May 4, by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, and her South Korean counterpart, Laya Chung Eui-yong. The signing took place during the State visit of the President of the Republic of Korea, the first to Spain since the beginning of the pandemic and the first of a South Korean leader to our country for fourteen years. Finally, the Council of Ministers authorized its ratification on November 8.
According to the Joint Declaration signed in Madrid by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the South Korean head of state, this new agreement “will strengthen relations” between the Spanish and Korean customs authorities “in order to facilitate trade, properly apply customs legislation, prevent and combat customs infringements and also guarantee the security and proper functioning of the international trade supply chain”.
That State visit -which took place on the occasion of the celebration, in 2020, of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries- had a marked economic character (Korea is the fourth largest economy in Asia and the eleventh largest in the world), especially oriented to the recovery after COVID-19. Spain and Korea currently have an Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments and a Double Taxation Agreement, both from 1994. Trade relations are structured around the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and South Korea, in force since 2011.
