The agreement also contains provisions relating to remedial measures, dispute resolution, customs cooperation and rules of origin. Iceland is a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and therefore has access to the Norwegian, Swiss and Liechtenstein markets as well as the EU market through the EEA agreement. The 1994 EEA agreement combines EFTA and EU Member States into a single market with the free movement of goods, capital, services and people. The agreement also provides duty-free trade for industrial products originating in countries that are part of the agreement and reduced or eliminated tariffs on processed agricultural products and seafood. Iceland entered into a bilateral agreement with the EU in 1972, with reduced or zero tariffs on Icelandic seafood exported to the EU. In 2018, an agreement has entered into force between Iceland and the EU to reduce or abolish tariffs and increase tariff quotas for unprocessed agricultural products. As part of the agreement, Iceland reduced tariffs on more than 340 categories of unprocessed agricultural products and reduced tariffs to more than 20 categories. U.S. agricultural products exported to Iceland should expect tariffs 30% higher than those of EU products. The free trade agreement between Iceland and China came into force on 1 July 2014. In 1992, EFTA and the EU signed the European Economic Area Agreement in Porto, Portugal. However, the proposal for Switzerland to ratify its participation was rejected in a referendum. (Nevertheless, Switzerland has several bilateral agreements with the EU that allow it to participate in the European single market, Schengen agreements and other programmes).) Thus, with the exception of Switzerland, EFTA members are also members of the European Economic Area (EEA).
The EEA comprises three member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and 28 Member States of the European Union (EU), including Croatia, which applies the agreement provisionally until it is ratified by all EEA countries. [36] [37] It was created on 1 January 1994 as a result of an agreement with the European Community (which had complied with the EU two months earlier). [38] It allows EFTA-EEA states to participate in the EU internal market without being eu membership. They transpose almost all EU internal market legislation, with the exception of agriculture and fisheries legislation. However, they also contribute to the implementation of new EEA policies and legislation at an early stage as part of a formal decision-making process. One EFTA member, Switzerland, has not joined the EEA, but has a number of bilateral agreements, including a free trade agreement, with the EU. As the UK`s largest exporter of manufacturing, the conclusion of agreements with major EEA/EFTA trading partners is good news. The chemical industry supports tariff-free global trade and fair trade, and after the period of uncertainty caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, our industry is eager to contribute to the recovery of the British economy. The agreement also guarantees continued market access for British producers exporting to these markets and continued trade in Icelandic and Norwegian products in the UK market for the benefit of the British consumer.
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