WTO 경쟁라운드의 진전과 한국의 대응

Emerging WTO Competition Round and Korean Response

The continuous reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade under the auspices of the GATT/WTO enabled a global market for the first time in history. Removal of the border obstacles to trade alone proved however not sufficient to bring about a true global market. Various domestic institutions and practices, laws and policies of the government as well as various forms of restrictive business practices of the private sector proved equally formidable in blocking foreign access to national markets. Here lies the ground for new trade issues such as competition policies, environmental regulations and labor standards which were not considered as a trade issue in the past. This article is concerned about one of these issues, namely, relationship of trade policies and competition policies. It first examines the overall background of the issue and then looks into the specific issues as developed in the international discussions so far(Chapter 2) . Chapter 3 identifies and reviews the several options likely to be favored by international community in tackling the issue. It appears that comprehensive international rules on competition is not likely to emerge soon given the diversity of norms between countries, but a minimum standard on hard core cartels may nonetheless be agreeable, under OECD if not under WTO(Chapter 4). In order to effectively respond to the challenge, it is argued in Chapter 5, that Korean government need to take prompt actions in the following areas: removal of various government-sanctioned industrial policy measures restricting competition; identification and gradual phase-out of exclusionary arrangements practiced by the private sector in various industries, e.g., in supply of parts and distribution of products; exertion of international efforts toward phasing out of the antidumping measures, the major protectionist measure allowed under the GATT/WTO; and strengthened enforcement of the competition-related laws.