After the Uruguay Round Agreement, TRQ was newly established to open up items under import restriction of each country by setting a quantitative threshold. Low tariffs are applied to imports under the threshold, while significantly higher tariffs are applied to imports over the threshold.
This policy assures a certain opportunity of market access to exporting countries at low customs tariffs and reduces the negative impacts from excessively increased imports caused during the process of tariffication.
Status of TRQ
After the UR agreement, TRQ was set to manage imports of 67 major agricultural and livestock products such as rice, chili pepper and garlic.
TRQs were removed for beef (2001), pork (1997), chicken (1997) and orange juice (1997)
TRQ Management Method
Governmental Trading: Institutions assigned by the government (aT, etc.) import based on TRQ importing rights, sell in the domestic markets, and pay the gains from imports to the government
Quota Auction: A method of selling the importing rights at TRQ low tariffs by carrying out public competitive bidding
Allocation to Actual Demand: Allocate on a first-come-first-served basis according to the procedures defined by the import right administrative institution or preferentially allocate to businesses satisfying certain qualifications (securing processing facilities, etc.)
Mixed Allocation Method: A combination of the above
