UK: New Free trade agreement with Norway – Iceland – Liechtenstein

A new free trade deal was signed in July between the UK and Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein! The free trade deal between these countries affects a variety of different economic sectors such as digital, financial, and professional business services.

At the same time, this new deal will help cut the red tape in imports and exports of goods as well as the movement of highly skilled professionals between these countries.

What does the UK free trade agreement between Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein include?

Some of the benefits coming from this agreement include:

• Lower tariffs and new duty-free quotas on exports of British products such as food and farm products will be introduced. Existing access to duty-free quotas for key British exports like cheese will be maintained while offering tariff reductions and quotas on pork, poultry and other goods.
• The UK fish processing sector, retail and consumers will benefit from cheaper imports of prawns, shrimp and white fish.
• This agreement will also preserve UK’s right to regulate to reach its Net Zero target, promote trade and investment to grow the low carbon economy, and address numerous issues related to environmental protection, including biodiversity, forestry and sustainable fisheries.
• The Free trade agreement also assists in slashing red tape, making it easier than ever for UK businesses to export across borders. Electronic documents, contracts and signatures will result in less paperwork, saving British firms time and money.
• The deal maintains existing access to duty free quotas for key British exports like cheese and will cut tariffs as high as 277% for exporters to Norway of West Country Farmhouse Cheddar, Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar, Traditional Welsh Caerphilly, and Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese.
• The agreement also recognises the protected status of certain United Kingdom wines and spirits like Scotch Whisky.
• Lower import tariffs on shrimps, prawns and white fish for the United Kingdom will result in lower costs for the fish processing sector, which accounted for around 18,000 jobs in 2020, mainly in areas like Scotland, East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire.
• Finally, the Free trade agreement will allow high-skilled professionals to enter Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein for business purposes. This will ensure that visas are processed within a maximum of 90 days and it also includes professional qualification recognition – so nurses, lawyers, vets and other professionals will have a clear route to apply to have their qualification recognised to work in the partner countries.

After the signing of the deal all trade ministers of UK, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein made public announcements regarding the importance of this trade agreement and the economic benefits for their countries.

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