South Korea has become the fourth country in the world to receive full approval by the European Commission that its security measures at all of its international airports meet EU standards and its passengers will

no longer need to forfeit duty free liquid purchases when transferring flights at EU checkpoints, or those in Norway, Iceland or Switzerland.

South Korea now follows in the footsteps of the US, Croatia and Singapore to be the latest major country to be approved last week under Regulation (EC) 915/2007.

The ETRC said today that this comes as a welcome boost for travellers, industry retailers and airports as they have been working together to encourage countries to apply for exemption status, the best – and only – available solution to the 'transfer passenger' problem for the time being.

As documented, Regulation (EC) 915/2007 allows passengers from selected non-EU country airports to travel freely with their duty free liquid purchases when transferring within the EU, once the European Commission has verified that they have taken the necessary steps to qualify for recognition. The pioneering example of Singapore took effect on January 3 2008.

ETRC President Frank O'Connell commented: ‘I am delighted to see South Korea approved by the Commission – it is a crucial step in promoting the exemption status to other key routes and countries where agreements have not yet been finalised and we hope to see many more approvals.’

Comment: South Korea is a welcome addition to the other three countries already approved and considering the disappointingly low number of applications for clearance under Regulation (EC) 915/2007 so far, the European Commission's commitment to continuing to audit and process applications from those countries that have applied should be commended.