Anyone or any organization in North Korea can deal with bringing goods into or out of the country. For a business to export or import goods from or into North Korea, it must be registered and have the right license for that business. Depending on the type of product, some goods that are being imported or exported may need a permit, license, rules about quality or packaging, standardization, or other formalities. The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) is in charge of some economic policies, the growth of trade, investment, industry, and energy in North Korea, and the regulation of some economic policies. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance runs the Korean Customs Service (KCS), which is North Korea’s official customs service. To avoid missed shipments, port demurrage fees, or fines for the business, all export paperwork must be done right. The exporter should make sure they have the correct export documents needed to get the goods through the port, through customs, and onto the pre-determined carrier.
Export stages
In general, there are three steps to the export process in every country:
- To get an export license, you only have to register once.
- To export, you need the right paperwork.
- Formalities for export customs clearance.
How to register an export
Mostly, a one-time export registration to act as an exporter is enough to send goods out of the exporting country. But if restricted items are exported, the country from which they are sent may need a separate license to send them abroad. In the country that is exporting the goods, there is a separate government agency that handles and regulates these kinds of goods and gives out export licenses or export permits. But there are some goods that can only be exported with a special license, which is based on the country’s trade policy on exporting the goods. From time to time, lists of what can be exported freely, what can only be exported with restrictions, and what can’t be exported at all are made public. Products on the list of goods that can’t be exported can be found on the official website of the country that is exporting the goods.
Isolating the economy
Due to North Korea’s relative economic isolation, its underdeveloped export sector, and U.S. trade restrictions, the U.S. imports almost no finished goods from North Korea. From 2000 to 2010, the U.S. imported a total of $335,700 worth of finished North Korean goods, which is about the same as a rounding error in the U.S.’s annual trade flows with most countries. Almost half of this amount was made up of stamps, and another 40% or so was made up of clothes for women. According to U.S. trade data, the only finished goods that have come into the United States from North Korea since 2005 were stamps worth $8,363 that came in June 2010. In four of the last five years, the United States has not imported any finished goods from North Korea.
Outer processing zones
In order to do this, the US and North Korea would set up a committee on outward processing zones on the Korean Peninsula. This committee would be made up of officials from both countries. It hasn’t been decided yet what kind of people will be on the committee. The committee would meet for the first time on the first anniversary of the KORUS FTA going into effect. After that, the committee would meet at least once a year or whenever the members of the committee agreed. The committee’s job is to find places that could be called OPZs and set political and economic criteria, such as labor and environmental standards, that must be met for goods from an OPZ to be considered originating for FTA purposes. The committee would also decide if the proposed OPZ meets the criteria set by the committee. Also, the committee shall also set a maximum threshold for the value of the total inputs of the originating final good that may be added within the geographical area of the outward processing zone. The United States and North Korea would be told about the committee’s decisions that were made with unified consent. Then, it would be up to the two countries to get legislative approval for any changes to the agreement that has to do with outward processing zones.
