WT/REG402/M/1  
 
13 April 2021 
(21-3059) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
Ninety -ninth  Session    
 
  
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND SINGAPORE  
(GOODS AND SERVICES)  
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF  22 MARCH  2021 
Chairm an: Ambassador H.E. Mr. Mārtiņš KREITUS (Latvia)  
1.1.  The 9 9th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter  "CRTA " or the 
"Committee ") was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/RTA/ 24/Rev.1  dated 12 March  2021. 
1.2.  Under Agenda Item D.I of the Session, the CRTA considered the Free Trade Agreement  between 
the European Union  and Singapore , goods  and services  (hereinafter  "the Agreement").  The Chairman  
stated that the Factual Presentation had been prepared by the Secretariat on its own responsibility 
in full consultation with the Parties, in accordan ce with paragraph 7(b) of the Transparency 
Mechanism for Regional Trade Agreements (document WT/L/671).  
1.3.  The Chairman  indicated that the  Agreement had entered into force on 21 November 2019. It 
had been  notified on 1 April 2020 under Article  XXIV:7(a) of th e GATT  1994 and GATS  Article  V:7(a) 
(documents WT/REG402/N/1 and S/C/N/1003) as an agreement establishing a free trade area for 
trade in goods within the meaning of Article XXIV of the GATT 1994 and for trade in services within 
the meaning of Article V of the GATS, respectively . The text of the Agreement and its Annexes was 
available on Parties' official websites.  The Factual Presentation on the goods and services aspects of 
the Agreement (document  WT/REG402/1 dated 11 January 2021) and questions and replie s on this 
Agreement (document WT/REG402/2 dated 11 March 2021) ha d been distributed.  
1.4.  The representative of Singapore  said that the Agreement  was a symbol of the excellent bilateral 
relations  between the Parties , which had endured and thrived for decades. It was and remain ed an 
important signal of the shared commitment to an open rules -based multilateral trading system. 
Additionally, the Agreement was a high -standard agreement which had brought many tangible 
benefits to enterprises in both economie s.  
1.5.  The EU and Singapore were like-minded partners with many common interests. Their 
economies were deeply intertwined, anchored by substantive trade, investment and people -to-
people ties. The EU was Singapore 's 4th largest trading partner for goods and second largest trading 
partner for services. The EU was also Singapore 's second largest foreign investor. Singapore, in turn, 
was the EU 's largest ASEAN trading partner and third -largest Asian investor. Singapore hosted over 
11,000 EU companies, and many Eur opeans call ed Singapore their home, adding to the vibrancy of 
its cosmopolitan society.  
1.6.  The pandemic ha d accentuated the importance of bilateral and multilateral trade relations. 
Singapore continue d to be a firm supporter of a robust trading system. Its bilateral trade with the 
EU had held steady in the previous year – despite the severe economic and health challenges posed 
by the COVID -19 pandemic. The Agreement had helped to cushion the impact. In 2020, bilateral 
trade in goods exceed ed 90 billion  Singapo rean dollars , representing close to 10% of Singapore 's 
total goods trade that year.  
1.7.  The Agreement was the first FTA between the EU and an ASEAN country. Singapore was happy 
to play a role in continuing to foster deeper ties between the two regions in its capacity as the 
country coordinator for ASEAN -EU dialogue relations.  WT/REG402/M/1  
 
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  1.8.  Overall, the EU and Singapore continue d to maintain a strong stance in favour of free trade 
and multilateralism. Singapore was glad to have an abiding partner in the EU, and other like -minded 
nations.  
1.9.  The Agreement provide d certainty and predictability while opening doors to overseas markets. 
Under the comprehensive Agreement , companies stood to benefit from substantive commitments in 
tariff elimination, rules of origin and market access. There were also provisions on 21st century trade 
issues like intellectual property, renewable energy and sustainable development.  
1.10.   Despite the economic and geopolitical challenges  of the moment , like-minded partners like 
the EU and Singapore had upheld and championed the open and rules -based order that underpinned 
economic growth and resilience for many decades . In that regard, he was confident that the EU and 
Singapore would  continue to build on their strong partnership for a resilient and sustainable recovery 
from COVID -19.  
1.11.   The representative of the European Union  agreed with everything said by the representa tive 
of Singapore and thanked him. Singapore and the EU were long standing partners and shared a 
robust bilateral relation underpinned by strong and growing trade and investment links. The also 
shared a commitment to open, fair and rules -based trade.  
1.12.   Bilateral trade and investment protection negotiations with Singapore beg an in 2010 and had 
been completed in 2017. The long period did not in any way reflect complexity in negotiations which 
had been  rather easy. It had reflected the complexities in the  EU and changes in its legislation.  
1.13.   The two agreements had been  signed on 19 October 2018. The trade agreement had entered 
into force on 21 November 2019.  The EU -Singapore Investment Protection Agreement would enter 
into force after its ratification by all E U member States, according to their own national procedures . 
At the moment 8  EU Member States had already ratified  it. The trade agreement did not require 
ratification by each EU Member State in order to enter into force.   
1.14.   Singapore was the EU's 14th largest trad ing partner  in goods and the largest  in Southeast 
Asia. It was also the EU's fifth largest trade in services partner worldwide.  Between 10,000 and 
11,00 0 European companies had set up their offices  or regional hubs in Singapore  which had become 
the EU 's sixth largest global destination for outbound direct investment and account ed for two -thirds 
of the EU's direct investment stock in Southeast Asia . 
1.15.   Before the Agreement  entered into force , almost all goods originating in the EU could have 
alread y enter ed Singapore free of customs duties. Since the entry into force of the Agreement, 
Singapore was bound to apply duty free access to all goods originating from the EU, including those 
that were formerly subject to tariffs , mainly beer and stout.  As regards imports to the EU , as of 
21 November 2019, approximately 84% of imports from Singapore to the EU enter ed duty-free. 
Examples of sectors that had benefit ed from the immediate elimination of customs duties include d 
electronics, pharmaceuticals, most petrochemicals, and processed agricultural goods . Nearly all 
remaining customs duties , mostly on agriculture products and textiles,  applying to Singaporean 
goods entering the EU would be phased out before November 2024.  The EU would  continue to apply 
tariffs on a few products even after the end of the phase out period, including on some fish products 
such as Tilapia  and Skipjack  and some processed agriculture  goods , as well as chemically pure 
fructose and sweet corn.  
1.16.   To qualify for the lower or zero prefere ntial tariff under the Agreement, the product had to 
originate in the EU or Singapore. A product was considered originating in the EU or in Singapore, if 
it had been  wholly obtained in the EU or Singapore or  manufactured in the EU or Singapore using 
non-originating materials and fulfil led the product specific rules set out in Annex B to the protocol 
on rules of origin  
1.17.   Another important factor of the Agreement was intellectual property rights and Geographical 
Indications (GIs) . Singapore had strengthen ed its existing GIs regime by setting up a system to 
register GIs in Singapore for the protection of products that had special qualities or enjo yed a certain 
reputation or other characteristics due to their geographical origin. EU producers were able to ap ply 
to register their GIs in Singapore. Non -EU producers were also able to apply to register GIs in 
Singapore.  The enhanced protection would strengthen consumers recognition of authentic quality WT/REG402/M/1  
 
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  EU food products, wines and spirits in Singapore, such as  Bordeaux wines, Parma ham, Champagne, 
Bavarian beer , various source of olives and more . 
1.18.   The Agreement cover ed a wide range of services and provide d additional market access for 
services providers.  Concretely, the EU and Singapore had agreed to reduce or remove certain 
restrictions on  a number  of services suppliers , the value of services transactions or assets , the 
number of services operations or the quantity of services outputs , the number of persons that may 
be employed  and specific type s of legal entit ies permitted .  
1.19.   The EU and Singapore had also agreed to ensure that the same rules and regulations appl ied 
to domestic and foreign services providers in certain sectors to create predictability and a level 
playing field. That applie d for example to  postal service s, telecommunication services , international 
maritime transport , computer services  and domestic legislation . 
1.20.   Singapore and the EU were members of the WTO 's Agreement on Government Procurement  
(GPA) . However, the trade agreement offer ed even more opportunities for EU firms to compete for 
public procurement contracts in Singapore  and vice versa . Singapore had agreed to additional 
disciplines on tendering , lower value thresholds for open tendering procedures  and had expanded 
the types of p ublic service contracts covered by commitments on transparency and non -
discrimination . The EU had added , compared to those included in the GPA, to the list of entities open 
for bids for public contracts additional central -level government ministries, agenc ies and other public 
bodies.  
1.21.   On sustainable development, t he Agreement set out binding commitments to ensure that 
domestic levels of environmental and labour protection were consistent with core international 
standards and agreements.  It also aimed to enhance the contribution of trade and investment to 
sustainable de velopment, including  corporate social responsibility , eco-labelling initiatives , fair and 
ethical trade  and conserving and sustainably managing natural resources, including through 
sustainable forest and fish stocks management . 
1.22.   Singapore was the EU's large st commercial partner in ASEAN, accounting for slightly under 
one third of EU -ASEAN trade in goods and services, and roughly two  thirds of investments between 
the two regions. Over 10,000 EU companies were established in Singapore and use d it as a hub to 
serve the whole South Pacific.  The Agreement was a first stepping -stone  towards more EU -ASEAN 
economic engagement  as it ensur ed better access for EU exporters to the dynamic ASEAN market . 
Strengthening those ties was a priority for the EU.  
1.23.   The representative  of the United Kingdom  thanked the EU and Singapore for the interesting 
presentations for which  the slides were very useful. She welcomed the Agreement entering into force 
with its impressive level of liberalization, the ambitious services ch apter as well as the rules of origin 
regime and provisions on intellectual property, Government procurement and sustainable 
development.  
1.24.   The representative of the United States  thanked the Parties and the Secretariat for the 
transparency on the Agreement.  She also commended the Parties for the high level of liberalization 
achieved . She  noted that the Parties had some non -notified agreements in force, and hoped that 
they would be notified.  
1.25.   The representative of Mexico  congratulated the Parties for the trans parency exercise and the 
detailed presentations. She thanked them for their responses to Mexico's advance questions.  
1.26.   The Chairman  noted that the  consideration of the Goods and Services Aspects of the Free 
Trade Agreement between the European Union and Sing apore , had allowed the Committee to clarify 
a number of questions and thus conclude d oral discussion of th e RTA in accordance with paragraph 
11 of the Transparency Mechanism. If any delegations wish ed to ask follow up questions they were 
invited to forward  submissions in writing to the Secretariat by 29 March  2021 and Parties were asked 
to submit replies in writing by no later than 12 April 2021. In accordance with paragraph 13 of the 
Transparency Mechanism all written submissions, as well as minutes of thi s meeting w ould be 
circulated promptly, in all WTO official languages, and w ould be made available on the WTO website.  
1.27.   The Committee  took note  of the comments made.  
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