South Korean pharmaceuticals will be exempt from certain paperwork when exporting pharmaceutical ingredients and products to the European Union.
This comes as the country has made it onto the list of non-EU countries that meet the trading bloc's pharmaceutical quality standards.
Kim Hyo-sun tells us more.
South Korea has been added to the EU drug whitelist, a move that's expected to boost the country's exports of pharmaceutical ingredients and products.
The decision was reached by the European Council on Tuesday,... about four years after Seoul applied in early 2015.
It certifies that South Korea's medicine-related manufacturing and supervision standards comply with those of the EU.
Such a move is expected to streamline the process for the Korean pharmaceutical industry to access the EU market,... which accounts for 31 percent of South Korea's pharmaceutical exports.
Seoul's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety forecasts it will save up to four months in the export process.
The ministry says it will strengthen global cooperation to expand entry into the global market based on the high quality of South Korea's medical goods,... and participate proactively in international exchanges.
South Korea becomes the seventh country to get on the whitelist,... following other nations, including the U.S., Japan, Brazil and Australia.
Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.