Thai crackdown on rogue fishing as fears grow over EU ban

Yahoo – AFP, Preeti Jha, 1 July 2015

Migrant workers sort fish in a port in Mahachai on the outskirts of Bangkok (AFP

Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)

Mahachai (Thailand) (AFP) - A belated Thai clampdown on illegal fishing is forcing unlicensed vessels ashore, threatening to paralyse a key industry as the kingdom desperately tries to avoid a European Union ban on exports worth $1 billion a year.

Barrels of fish packed in ice are usually rolled off boats at a bustling port in Samut Sakhon, a coastal province near Bangkok, by Myanmar and Cambodia migrant workers who prop up the world's third largest seafood producer.

A migrant worker sits on a fishing boat

 in a port in Mahachai on the outskirts of

Bangkok (AFP Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)

But many will sit idle from Wednesday, say their Thai employers, who have failed to obtain necessary fishing permits under a raft of new government rules aimed at cleaning up the shadowy industry.

Next to buckets of red snapper destined to become fish balls for the local market and fishmeal to rear shrimp marked for Europe, a Thai vessel owner says there are "too many rules and too little time".

"We will have to keep paying bills with no income," said the worried 59-year-old, who withheld his name, as he prepares to cease operations until he can meet the conditions for a new permit.

The Wednesday deadline to register boats with authorities and acquire permits under revised standards, including installing equipment such as tracking devices, comes after the European Union threatened to ban fish imports from the kingdom unless it combats illegal fishing.

In April Brussels issued Thailand with a "yellow card" for inadequate fisheries monitoring, controls and punishment, warning that a "red card" and eventual import ban would follow if it failed to improve within six months.

The spectre of losing $1 billion in European sales is a shortfall the ruling military can ill-afford in an already sluggish economy.

Thailand saw only 0.3 percent growth in the first quarter and exports have been slowing in part, says the World Bank, due to an erosion in competitiveness.

Aphisit Techanitisawad, president of The Thai Overseas Fisheries Association, estimates around 3,000 fishing vessels nationwide will forsake the seas from Wednesday.

A worker checks canned fish at the 

Anusorn Group factory in Tasai, on the

 outskirts of Bangkok (AFP Photo/

Nicolas Asfouri)

"About 80 percent of all the fishermen, they're coming back to shore" to seek permits, he told AFP at his fisheries factory in Samut Sakhon.

Thailand's image battered

A recent shortage in fresh fish has already seen his workers stop processing crab sticks for French export, instead focussing on canning sardines and mackerel from frozen supplies for the Myanmar and Cambodian markets.

A labour ministry spokeswoman said around 80,000 migrants were working in Thai fisheries since the deadline for compulsory migrant registrations closed Tuesday.

Aphisit thinks the government could have imposed a more lenient timeframe for changes.

But premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha has remained adamant the industry has been left unchecked for too long.

"Don't put any more pressure on government," he said when asked about rising anger within the fishing industry.

"If we don't pass these measures a 200 billion baht ($6 billion) industry could be wiped out so everybody should cooperate," he said.

Thailand's image has been battered in recent years by a series of fishing abuse allegations from prominent rights groups of ships using slave and child labour as well as trafficking victims.

Migrant workers at work in a port in 

Mahachai, on the outskirts of Bangkok

(AFP Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)

And last year the US downgraded the kingdom to its lowest ranking on human trafficking, a designation that can trigger sanctions.

Bangkok is desperate to improve its standing, while sanctions have not yet been imposed, laying out new measures including a ban on fishing workers under 18 in the months since. The latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report is due for imminent publication.

Observers say that while the latest threat of an EU ban has triggered a renewed sense of urgency in authorities, rushed actions will fail to combat illegal fishing in the long-term.

Improving "monitoring, control and surveillance" will help to tackle longstanding problems of pirate fishing, slavery and trafficking in Thailand's fisheries industry, said Daniel Murphy, a Bangkok-based campaigner for the Environmental Justice Foundation.

But by rapidly regulating the neglected sector the government "risks regularising more vessels than Thailand's exhausted waters can support as well a significant number of vessels which have spent years openly flouting fishing laws", he said.

In this handout photograph released by Indonesia’s Ministry of Fishery on

 April 8, 2015, hundreds of rescued foreign fishermen mostly from Myanmar and

Thailand are gathered during an operation at the private Indonesian fishing firm

 Pusaka Benjina Resources located in remote Benjina island of Maluku

province. (AFP Photo/Ugeng Nugroho/Ministry of Fishery)

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Benjina, Maluku, shows evidence of abuse. (Antara Foto/Humas Kementerian

Kelautan)

Hundreds arrested in global crackdown on wildlife contraband

Yahoo – AFP, Jan Hennop, 18 June 2015

Workers put ivory items on a sliding belt before being destroyed in Beijing

on May 29, 2015 (AFP Photo/Fred Dufour)

The Hague (AFP) - A global crackdown on wildlife trafficking has netted "huge" amounts of whale bones, rhino horn, ivory and other contraband, leading to hundreds of arrests, European and Asian authorities announced Thursday.

Operation Cobra III saw police in 62 countries swoop on suspected wildlife smugglers between mid-March and May, European police agency Europol said in a statement.

The operation, which was "the biggest ever coordinated international law enforcement operation targeting the illegal trade in endangered species" yielded "huge amounts of wildlife contraband," said Europol, which is based in The Hague.

Carved ivory is shown to the media

 before being destroyed in Beijing on 

May 29, 2015 (AFP Photo/Fred Dufour)

The Association of Southeastern Asian Nations' Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN), which helped organise the operation, reported "over 600 seizures of assorted wildlife contraband" and at least 300 arrests.

The suspects included eight alleged smuggling kingpins, including a Chinese national involved in Namibia's biggest rhino horn smuggling case and a notorious elephant poacher in India, ASEAN-WEN said.

In Europe alone, police recovered 11,439 dead and live specimens, including 20 kilos (44 pounds) of live leeches in Bulgaria and 10,000 dead seahorses and 400 tortoises in Britain, Europol said.

Seahorses in particular are prized as aquarium animals, ornaments or used in traditional medicine.

Around 20 million seahorses are estimated to be traded every year for traditional Chinese medicine, according to Endangered Species International.

In Spain, police seized 90 kilos of coral and animal horns and heads and a further 25 kilogrammes of coral were netted in Bulgaria.

In India, nearly 11,000 kilos of suspected tigers' bones were found.

Chinese and German police meanwhile confiscated around 800 cactus plants, while 50 kilogrammes of unworked ivory were found in France and 16 whale ribs were discovered in the Netherlands.

Eight suspected kingpins were arrested

 in the operation, including a Chinese 

national involved in Namibia's biggest

 rhino horn smuggling case (AFP

Photo/Tony Karumba)

Massive ivory haul

In Thailand, police in April netted more than four tonnes of ivory hidden in containers originating in the Democratic Republic of Congo and destined for Laos.

Thai police again seized more than three tonnes of ivory a week later in a second haul, this time from Kenya and again destined for Laos.

The 511 pieces of ivory was found in a container "marked as tea leaves transported from Mombasa, Kenya," Thai customs officials said.

The shipping of ivory has been banned since 1989 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the tusks are worth millions of dollars (euros) on the black market.

Elephants and rhinos are mainly poached in Africa and India and their tusks and horn sent to South East Asia.

While tusks are used in a "long tradition of ivory carving", powdered rhino horn is used in traditional Asian medicine.

"Sales generate significant profits for the organised crime groups involved," Europol said.

"Investigations continue in many countries," it added.

Thai customs officers carry confiscated elephant tusks during a press conference at

the Customs Bureau in Bangkok on April 27, 2015 (AFP Photo/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

Europol, which supported the operation, said COBRA III was organised by ASEAN-WEN and the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, consisting of seven African countries.

"The trafficking of endangered species remains a problem in the EU and beyond," Europol's director Rob Wainwright said.

"Operation COBRA III once again shows the true global dimension of these crimes," he added.

"We will continue our efforts to fight these cruel crimes, to ensure a safe environment for endangered species in Europe and all over the world."

Asia and Europe meet in Milan

ASEM, the Asia-Europe Meeting, has been taking place for the past 18 years, but it has rarely been in the spotlight. Concrete decisions are rare. Ukraine is one of many issues set to be discussed on the sidelines.

Deutsche Welle, 16 Oct 2014

"Milan will be a bridge between Europe and Asia," trumpeted the Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera ahead of the biggest summit meeting that the industrial powerhouse of a city has ever held. The numbers are impressive: 53 government leaders from Asia and Europe are invited. They will be bringing with them some 2,000 delegates to the city. Along with them will be thousands of police and journalists, among others.

Taken as a whole, the ASEM member states - stretching from Western Europe to the Pacific, and including Australia and New Zealand - are home to 60 percent of the world's population. Half of the world's economic output is generated in Europe and Asia.

"For two whole days the world will be looking at us," said Corriere della Sera, perhaps optimistically. Indeed, the Italian organizers of the 10th ASEM summit since the organization was founded in 1996 say that media interest is greater than might otherwise be expected.

Ukraine is not a member of ASEM,
 but it didn't stop Poroshenko from
arranging to meet Putin on the
sidelines

One reason could be that the city will be the venue for a rare meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Not that it will take place at the summit itself - rather on the sidelines, at a five-star hotel where Putin will be staying the night.

There, it is expected that the two presidents will discuss a lasting ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, the withdrawal of Russian troops remaining near the border with Ukraine and,gas supply.

Ukraine itself is not a member of ASEM, but Poroshenko will be going along all the same.

Just a debating club?

The Asia-Europe Meeting itself is supposed to be about creating responsible partnerships when it comes to sustainable economic growth and development.

However, the summit chairman - EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy - has himself conceded that the summit is often perceived as little more than a debating club.

But, at a speech in Brussels in September, he added: "Can you really criticize a dialogue process for providing a platform for meetings, for discussions?"

"It is no secret that the many bilateral meetings in the margins of the (actual summit) are very important and I am happy with that."

For David Fouquet, ASEM expert at the European Institute for Asian Studies, the Europeans are seen to have become skeptical about what can be achieved.

Van Rompuy concedes that the summit is
 largely about talking, but says real business
is done there, too

"In general, Asians were said to be anxious to use ASEM to make concrete progress on economic and social issues and cooperation," said Fouquet, referring to pre-summit meeting in April. "Europeans to them seemed to prefer to maintain ASEM as a 'talking shop,' a charge frequently leveled at Asians in the past."

A vehicle for national interests

Many of the larger member states might well see the ASEM summit as a vehicle for forwarding their own national interests through these bilateral meetings. China, for example, is eager to deepen its bilateral relations with the EU. China would, more than anything, like to have a strong partner for discussion in Brussels - someone able to speak and negotiate for the whole of the EU.

The expansion of economic relations between the EU and Asia will be an important part of the talks. So, too, will be the effects of EU sanctions against Russia - which will be discussed at one meeting - and the possibility of a strengthening of between Beijing and Moscow.

Political leaders will sit down on Friday for informal talks behind closed doors, where issues such as the threat to global security by Islamist terror groups, unresolved maritime disputes in the South China Sea, and the outstanding issues around Ukraine.

These talks, in particular, should are intended to be entirely casual - with government leaders able to speak freely. There will be no protocols, no press statements.

Human rights issues are consistently addressed, according to Van Rompuy. However, concrete human rights matters, though, are parceled off for a special seminar. Whether the student protests for more democracy in Hong Kong will be discussed, is questionable.

ASEM family photographs need a lot of
space - and membership has grown since
the last meeting in Laos

Consensus on climate change?

Van Rompuy has said he hopes for some concrete progress on global warming. "We will be striving to forge an interregional consensus to agree on an ambitious roadmap for cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions," he said in the run-up to the summit. Until now, developing nations have resisted ambitious plans to cut carbon emissions.

Croatia and Kazakhstan become the newest members of the Asian-European club in Milan - taking the number to 53. It all began 18 years ago, as an informal meeting involving no more than half of the current number of members.

"If you take enlargement as a measure of success, then ASEM is hugely successful said Van Rompuy.

However, he added: "Not all participants are equally interested in all issues, another reason why the number of subjects treated is ever increasing. Streamlining and giving more focus to meetings is a necessary remedy."

Ukip MEP apologises for insulting Thai supporter

Janice Atkinson says she 'deeply regrets the words I used', after referring to woman as 'a ting tong from somewhere'

The Guardian, Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent, Monday 18 August 2014

A Ukip rosette. Photograph: Craig Shepheard/Demotix/Corbis

A Ukip MEP has apologised after she described a Thai constituent and party supporter as "a ting tong from somewhere".

Janice Atkinson, an MEP for the south of England, apologised to Fa Munday for using the words, which are used colloquially in Thai to describe a mentally ill person. It was also the name of a Thai transsexual character played by Matt Lucas in the BBC1 comedy Little Britain.

Atkinson made the remarks after recording an interview with BBC South East Today on Friday. The MEP was still wearing a microphone after being filmed meeting local people and Ukip members in Ramsgate, Kent.

Atkinson was heard to say of the filming: "So that was good. We got Fa who's, I don't know, she's a ting tong from somewhere."

Munday told the BBC: "I'm from Thailand. I'm married to an Englishman and now I'm British. No one has ever spoken about me like that before."

Her husband, Vincent Munday, who is also a Ukip supporter, said: "I don't think Ukip are a racist party, but that comment certainly wasn't the brightest thing I've ever heard."

Atkinson said: "I deeply regret the words I used and am incredibly sorry. It was poor judgment and naivety on my part rather than words spoken with any malice. I am devastated that I have caused hurt and apologise profusely to both Mr and Mrs Munday."

A Ukip spokesman said: "Janice has apologised for the words she used. Ukip in no way condones the use of language that may reflect prejudice or cause offence and we sincerely hope this matter can be resolved privately."

China signs protocol to nuclear-free treaty in Central Asia

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-05-07

Liu Jieyi, second left, and representatives of Russia, the United States,
France and Britain at the signing ceremony in New York, May 6. (Photo/Xinhua)

China on Wednesday signed a protocol to the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia.

"China supports the efforts of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia, which serves the purposes of strengthening the international non-proliferation regime, advancing the nuclear disarmament process, and promoting peace and security in the region and beyond," Chinese permanent envoy to the UN Liu Jieyi said in a statement.

China has made a solemn commitment of no-first-use of nuclear weapons at any time or under any circumstances, and promised that under no circumstances will it use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states and nuclear-weapon-free zones, the statement said.

"China is committed to strictly complying with the obligations of this protocol after signing and ratification," it said. "At the same time, China believes that any security agreement or treaty will not affect the position of the nuclear-weapon-free zone, and interpretation and application of all the provisions of this protocol must comply with its aim and purpose of establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia."

China hopes the protocol will enter into force at an early date and is willing to make joint efforts with the Central Asian countries to achieve the goal of the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons in the world, said the statement.

China signed the protocol with the five Central Asian countries at the UN headquarters together with Russia, the United States, France and Britain.

Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, where a 15-megaton device equivalent to a thousand

Hiroshima blasts, detonated in 1954. Photograph: US Air Force - digital version

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Singapore and EU agree to free trade deal

Deutsche Welle, 16 December 2012

The European Union and Singapore have agreed to terms on a free trade deal. The move is expected to open up the Asian country's market for financial services and European exports.

The EU agreed to the deal with its Asian economic partner Sunday, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht (pictured above) said.

"Singapore is a dynamic market for EU entrepreneurs and an important wheel in driving trade in south Asia," said De Gucht.

After negotiations are completed by the European Commission, the EU executive, member states and the European Parliament must approve the agreement before it can take effect.

De Gucht added he did not expect problems, saying he was hoping for finalization by the end of next year.

Improved financial access

The EU hopes the agreement will provide better financial access to Singapore, one of Asia's richest countries per capita.

Though Singapore has a population of just 5 million, it is considered a gateway to the 600 million people in the fast-growing economies of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The deal includes the remove non-tariff barriers such as the double testing of cars, as Singapore starts to recognize EU standards, EU officials say.

The further opening of the island country's banking and financial services sector, as well as better access to its public procurement markets are also part of the agreement.

De Gucht said the move will open the way for further trade agreements with countries in the ASEAN region.

The EU is currently negotiating free trade agreements with Malaysia and Vietnam. A similar deal with South Korea came into effect last year, and EU trade ministers agreed in November to start negotiations for a deal with Japan.

dr/kms (Reuters, dpa)

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Europe announces a fresh, 'credible' Greek rescue deal

Deutsche Welle, 22 July 2011 

Greece's second aid package is
larger than the first

European leaders say the eurozone, the International Monetary Fund and the private sector will all contribute towards a second package of emergency loans for Greece, as a debt-dominated summit concludes in Brussels.

European Union President Herman van Rompuy said after Thursday's summit in Brussels that the bloc had reached three important decisions which had unanimous support within eurozone.

"We improved the Greek debt sustainability, we took measures to stop the risk of contagion, and finally, we committed to improve the eurozone's crisis management," Rompuy said in the opening moments of his official address.

The EU president said that the instability of the Greek economy, coupled with the resultant jitters on international markets, ultimately could have threatened the single European currency and the economic recovery in Europe and the wider world.

"Convening this meeting focused the minds and accelerated finding a solution. I could not allow a difficult situation to become a dangerous one," Rompuy said.

The nuts and bolts

European leaders in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to lend Greece an additional 109 billion euros (157 billion dollars) in order to cover its financing shortfalls and prevent Athens from defaulting on its sovereign debt.

The program will include lower interest rates and extended maturities as well as a voluntary contribution from private sector financial institutions amounting to 37 billion euros, according to a statement released by the leaders after the summit.

Merkel and Sarkozy struck an
agreement before the summit

European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet reacted coolly to concerns that even voluntary participation by the private sector could provoke rating agencies to downgrade Greece's credit worthiness.

"I don't think experts consider that what has been done would trigger a credit event," Trichet said after the summit.

'European package'

Greece's second aid package, including private contributions, will total at least 146 billion euros. The package comes in addition to the 110 billion euros Athens was promised as part of its first bailout in 2010.

"The only thing we're asking for is the right to make deep changes in our country to make our country a viable one, one of growth and jobs creations," Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said. "This is a European success, a European package."

The breakthrough deal was made possible after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy came to an agreement in Berlin on Wednesday.

Sarkozy said that Europe was prepared to stand with Athens and guarantee its credit worthiness in the event that credit agencies declare Greece in limited default.

"We have agreed to create the beginnings of a European Monetary Fund," he said.

Author: Spencer Kimball, Mark Hallam (AFP, Reuters, dpa)

Editor: Joanna Impey

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Chinese FM calls for further ASEAN Plus Three cooperation for regional prosperity

Foreign ministers and delegates of ASEAN and China, Japan and the
 Republic of Korea, pose for group photos during the ASEAN and China,
Japan and the Republic of Korea foreign ministers' meeting held in Bali,
Indonesia, July 21, 2011. (Xinhua/Chen Duo)

China, Europe eye closer ties as political parties' leaders gather in Beijing

English.news.cn 2011-05-16

Liu Yunshan (L), a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party
of China (CPC) Central Committee, addresses the China-Europe High-level
|Political Parties Forum in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2011. The second
China-Europe High-level Political Parties Forum, hosted by the Communist Party
of China, opened Monday in Beijing. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) and political parties from Europe here on Monday voiced willingness to seize opportunities created by the countries' future development plans and promote Sino-EU ties.

"China has rolled out its 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) while Europe has launched a 10-year strategy, the so-called EU 2020 strategy. The plans share many similarities and the two sides, therefore, face new opportunities in practical cooperation," senior CPC official Liu Yunshan said when addressing the opening ceremony of the China-Europe High-level Political Parties Forum.

Liu, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said the forum serves as an important platform for Chinese and European political leaders to exchange views on development ideas and goals, and will be conducive to enhancing mutual trust and cooperation.

He said that during its 12th five-year period, China will accelerate the transformation of its economic growth mode, and make great efforts to build a resource-saving and environmentally-friendly society.

"China will continue to deepen its reform and opening up while working jointly with the international community to cope with global challenges and share development opportunities," Liu said

"China's 12th Five-Year Plan and the EU 2020 strategy will not only affect both economies but also the world economy and global economic governance," Liu said, calling for officials from the two sides to enhance dialogue and understanding.

Martin Schulz, chair of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, said he looks forward to learning more about China's development plan.

Noting that the EU's objective is to develop smart, sustainable and inclusive growth by 2020, Schulz said these similar goals enable delegates to conduct a candid exchange of views at the forum.

The theme for this year's forum, the second of its kind, is "China's 12th Five-Year Plan and Europe 2020 Strategy: New Opportunities and Prospects for China-Europe Cooperation." The forum draws nearly 100 delegates from over 30 political parties of Europe.

The three-day forum will also take delegates to China's northern port city of Tianjin, where delegates will visit an Airbus assembly plant.

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EU, ASEAN nations arranging FTA

Dina Indrasafitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Thu, 05/05/2011

The European Union (EU) says it is talking with individual ASEAN member nations to bolster support for a potential ASEAN/EU Free Trade Agreement to help both blocs.

In addition to Singapore and Malaysia, “several other [nations] are seriously thinking on engaging the same route. It is also the case with Indonesia and European countries,” EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said on Wednesday at the first EU-Asian business summit at the Jakarta Convention Center.

Karel said free trade agreements would be a big opportunity for every ASEAN member state.

“So we see a big effort to make a free trade agreement between EU and ASEAN,” he said.

According to Karel, free trade agreements ultimately depended on business support for success, in addition to support from the authorities, governments and the EU commission.

“It is up to private businesses to demonstrate that [an FTA] can have result to engage, invest and make trade as a goal,” he told reporters.

“The result will be lots of new business contracts that will result in more trade and more investment,” he added.

The large number of delegates attending the inaugural EU-ASEAN business summit in Jakarta – including about 300 European delegates and 200 ASEAN delegates – underscored the mutual beneficial connections between EU and ASEAN.

“Put simply, EU needs ASEAN and ASEAN needs EU,” he said.

Karel said that the EU offered ASEAN a potential market of 500 million consumers, while the EU was attracted to ASEAN’s estimated 7.8 percent growth rate in 2011.

Annual trade between EU and ASEAN tops US$ 200 billion a year.

“I want to see that grow even more as Europe has many of the world’s leading companies offering the best products and the best services on the global market place,” Karel said.

Intensifying EU-ASEAN trade would benefit the people of ASEAN as it would create more jobs, offer more choices to consumers and improve the lives of people in both ASEAN and the EU.

“This event shows EU and ASEAN are truly open for business and I look forward to seeing this event growing even larger and more successful in the future,” he said. (swd)

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South Korea ratifies EU free trade deal

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 05/05/2011

South Korea's ruling party rammed the country's free trade agreement with the European Union through parliament amid an opposition boycott in a result that shifts focus to a still unratified deal with the United States.

The approval, which paves the way for the tariff-slashing accord to take effect as early as July, came in a one-sided late night vote Wednesday that saw Grand National Party lawmakers wield their majority in the National Assembly. EU lawmakers approved the deal earlier this year.

The free trade agreement brings together increasingly affluent South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, with the 27-member EU, the world's largest economic bloc. Trade between the two sides totaled $92.2 billion last year, a gain of 17 percent from the year before. It is the EU's first such accord with an Asian country.

A total of 169 National Assembly members were present and 163 voted in favor of the legislation, which passed a little more than an hour before midnight. One lawmaker voted against it while five abstained. The assembly has 299 members.

"I announce that the free trade agreement between the Republic of Korea and the European Union has been ratified," National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae said after the vote.

The main opposition Democratic Party boycotted the session in a dispute about providing safeguards for farmers and small retailers, Yonhap news agency reported.

Members of the smaller Democratic Labor Party protested by standing near the speaker's chair and holding up signs reading "Oppose the Korea-EU FTA" after Park ended debate ahead of the vote.

Negotiations toward an agreement began four years ago soon after South Korea and the United States concluded negotiations on a free trade deal. Despite the later start, Seoul and Brussels stand to see their accord take effect first - a potential development that has worried U.S. businesses who see European rivals potentially gaining an advantage in the South Korean market.

The EU ranks as South Korea's fourth-largest trading partner behind China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Japan. The U.S. is South Korea's fifth-largest trading partner.

South Korea and the EU signed their agreement in October of last year and EU lawmakers approved it by a wide margin in February. Both sides have said they want it to take effect on July 1st.

Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade welcomed the passage, saying it can help South Korea better weather global economic challenges such as Japan's earthquake, political changes in the Middle East and North Africa and South Korea's strengthening currency.

"We expect the Korea-EU FTA to improve our companies' overseas trade environment," the ministry said in a statement.

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, meanwhile, said the agreement will lead to growth and create jobs, among other benefits.

"This is a landmark agreement and a benchmark for what we want to achieve with other key trading partners," he said in a statement.

The passage comes as South Korea's free trade deal with the U.S. remains unratified in both countries. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said last month during a visit to Seoul that the administration of President Barack Obama is determined to see the agreement passed this year.

The deal is the biggest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994 and would bring the country economically closer to South Korea, already a key long-term security ally.

The South Korea-U.S. agreement, negotiated under the administration of President George W. Bush, stalled under Obama after his government complained the pact did not adequately address a large deficit in auto trade favoring Seoul. The two sides reached a revised deal in December that the U.S. said it felt could win congressional approval.

In Washington, the White House said Wednesday it was ready to send free trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to Congress for approval. The first step in the process, technical discussions with congressional aides, could begin as early as Thursday.

The White House had hoped for quick approval of the deal with Seoul. But Republicans threatened to block it unless the Obama administration also completed agreements with Colombia and Panama. That breakthrough came in April, after months of negotiations.

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