EFTA And CURBK Hold Free Trade Talks

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

06 September 2011

Delegations from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, have held further negotiations towards a broad-based Free Trade Agreement in meetings in Geneva.

According to a statement from EFTA, the negotiations, launched in November 2010, were continued in all fields, encompassing: trade in goods (industrial, agricultural and fish); sanitary and phytosanitary issues; technical barriers to trade; trade remedies; customs and origin matters; trade facilitation; intellectual property rights; services and investment; government procurement; legal issues; competition; and sustainable development.

Based on constructive talks, a substantial programme of follow-up work was agreed in view of the next full round of negotiations, EFTA reported.

In 2010, the three countries forming the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union were EFTA’s sixth most important export destination and fourth largest import source outside the European Union, with total merchandise trade amounting to USD8.5bn. Levels of trade in services and foreign direct investment are also significant between both sides.

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