JERUSALEM: Israel’s finance minister on Sunday signed an order to eliminate customs duties on agricultural and industrial imports from South Korea, including on cars, as a new free trade agreement between the countries took effect.

Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman made the change, which will result in the end of a 7 per cent customs duty imposed on South Korean auto imports and a 12 per cent customs duty on air conditioners, after the free trade agreement was ratified in March, according to Israel’s Tax Authority.

Israel, it said, will lose as much as 225 million shekels (US$66 million) a year in tax revenue as a result of the customs reduction.