In 2012 September, APEC Leaders reached an agreement to endorse a list consisting of 54 environmental goods and reduce applied tariffs on these goods to 5 percent or less by 2015. It is such a remarkable accomplishment for several years of APECs efforts since Early Voluntary Sectoral Liberalization This breakthrough will have positive repercussions and spillovers at the bilateral and multilateral level.
This study reviews what characteristics of discussions and activities in APEC brought about the accomplishment. It also examines Koreas competitiveness on APEC environmental goods comparing with competitiveness of other major economies. Based on the analysis, this paper draws the policy implications on how to deal with further discussions and to strengthen the competitiveness in preparation for market liberalization, not only in the APEC region but also around the world.