The government opened a new support center Wednesday that will help local companies take full advantage of the country’s free trade agreements.

The center will be part of an FTA support center established early last year, but will specifically help local companies prepare for post-hoc analysis of their outbound shipments, under which the companies may be asked to verify the origin of their products.

“The center will help make sure that no company will shun from utilizing benefits of an FTA because of difficulties related to post-hoc analysis,” the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press release.

The center will also make on-site visits to small- and medium-sized firms, which are relatively less prepared than large conglomerates to deal with government demands for verification by import countries, it added.

South Korea is currently enforcing eight FTAs with 45 countries, including the United States and the European Union. The country is also engaged in negotiations for 15 other FTAs involving 37 countries. (Yonhap News)