UK, AGREEMENT WITH NORWAY, ICELAND AND LIECHTENSTEIN

The UK has signed a new trade agreement with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, which will boost critical UK sectors such as digital, cut tariffs on high-quality food and agricultural products and support jobs in all contracting states.

The agreement signed last June 4 for the first time includes chapters on digital trade and small businesses, making it the most advanced the parties have concluded to date. State-of-the-art digital provisions mean electronic documents, contracts and signatures that will allow goods to move smoothly across borders, saving businesses time and money. Tariff reductions (up to 277% for   British cheese exports) will mainly apply to food, wine and spirits; cutting the import duty on shrimps, prawns and haddock will reduce the cost of processing fish in the UK, helping to sustain some 18.000 jobs in that industry in Scotland, East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. The agreement allows for limiting the fees that mobile operators can charge each other for international mobile roaming, a new world novelty in an FTA, keeping costs low for tourists and business travelers; provides for faster and simpler visa procedures and includes the recognition of professional qualifications and clearer rules for financial services companies.