WT/REG437/M/1  
14 October  2022 
(22-7800) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
Hundred and  Fourth  Session    
 
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND SWITZERLAND  (GOODS)  
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF  22 SEPTEMBER  2022 
Chairm an: Ambassador H.E. Mr. Taeho LEE (Republic of Korea ) 
1.1.  The 10 4th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter "CRTA" or the 
"Committee") was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/RTA/ 29/Rev.1  dated 1 2 September  2022.  
1.2.  Under Agenda Item F.III of the Session, the CRTA considered the Free Trade  Agreement 
betwee n the United Kingdom and Switzerland , goods (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 accordance with paragraph 7(b) of the Transparency 
Mechanism for Regional Trade Agreements (document WT/L/671).  
1.3.  The Chairman  recalled that the Agreement had entered into force on 1 January 2021. It had 
been notified to the WTO by the Parties and Liechtenstein on 31 Decemb er 2020 under 
Article  XXIV:7(a) of the GATT  1994, as establishing a free trade area for trade in goods, within the 
meaning of Article XXIV of the GATT 1994 (document  WT/REG437/N/1 ). The text of the Agreement, 
together with its Annexes, was available on the  Parties' official websites and in the WTO RTA 
database. The factual presentation, documents  WT/REG437/1, and questions and replies, document 
WT/REG437/2, had been distributed. The Parties had informed the Chairman  that the representative 
of the United Kin gdom would  make a joint statement on behalf of both Parties.  
1.4.  The representative of the United Kingdom  speaking also on behalf of Switzerland,  recalled that 
at the previous meeting , Members had had the opportunity to review the UK 's trade agreements 
with C anada, Chile, and Jordan. The factual presentations on the agenda continue d the process of 
multilateral review of the UK 's FTA programme.  
1.5.  The Agreement had successfully entered into force on 1st January 2021 following the end of 
the transition period  of the UK's membership of the European Union . The Agreement had 
incorporate d, and replicate d to the extent possible, the provisions of eight pre -existing EU -
Switzerland Agreements, including the 1972 EU -Switzerland Free Trade Agreement and EU -Swiss 
agreem ents on Agriculture, Mutual Recognition of Conformity Assessment, Procurement and Anti -
Fraud.  
1.6.  The Agreement reaffirm ed the strong relationship between the UK and Switzerland, two 
dynamic European economies outside the EU.  
1.7.  The Agreement ha d provided importa nt continuity, preserving the key elements of the UK and 
Switzerland 's trading commitments, allowing individuals, businesses, and stakeholders in both 
Parties  to continue key trading relationships going forward.  
1.8.  The representative of the United Kingdom  said that Switzerland was one of the UK 's closest 
trading partners and their thriving trade relationship ha d increased almost three -fold over the last 
20 years. It was worth over GBP38 billion in 2021.  
1.9.  The Agreement follow ed a short form approach, which incorporate d by reference the relevant 
provisions of the EU -Switzerland agreements mutatis mutandis  with a few, necessary modifications. 
The UK and Switzerland had agreed  that entering into a short form agreement was the most WT/REG437/M/1  
 
- 2 - 
 
  pragmatic and sensible approach to delivering continuity in the circumstances. This approach had 
been applied to other UK continuity agreements that had been ratified since February 2019.  
1.10.  The Agreement include d provisions on trade in goods, geographical in dications, and 
government procurement. The Parties had  also secured the key chapters in the Mutual Recognition 
Agreement on conformity assessment, providing vital continuity for sectors such as the automotive 
sector. The Agreement extend ed relevant goods p rovisions to Liechtenstein which  formed part of 
the Swiss customs territory.  
1.11.  The Agreement reproduce d the effects of the EU -Swiss FTA as far as possible, including the 
establishment of institutional arrangements between the UK and Switzerland based on exis ting 
structures. For instance, the 'EU-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee ' had been  
replaced by the 'Incorporated Free Trade Joint Committee '. A further five Joint Committees had been  
established to manage the corresponding transitioned EU -Swiss Agreements. This approach had 
allowed  for the ongoing management and updating of the umbrella Trade Agreement and 
incorporated agreements.  
1.12.  Where more substantive amendments were required to ref lect the bilateral context, or where 
the UK and Switzerland had jointly agreed that incorporating the provisions mutatis mutandis  would 
not deliver adequate certainty or transparency, detailed amendments had been included in the 
Annexes to the Agreement. I n addition, certain provisions under the EU -Swiss Agreements had not 
been transitioned, in particular under the incorporated Agriculture Agreement, Mutual Recognition 
Agreement of Conformity Assessment and Customs Security Agreement. However, the relevant Joint 
Committees were empowered to assess any changes to domestic legislation in the UK and 
Switzerland on an ongoing basis to ensure continuity where possible. To date, this had already been 
achieved by applying a revised Annex 9 to the Agreement on organ ically produced agricultural 
products and foodstuffs.  
1.13.  As a guiding principle, where there were time bound commitments in relation to liberalising 
market access, Switzerland and the UK had agreed to 'inherit the clock ' thus ensuring continuity had 
been main tained in the new bilateral agreement. Should the time bound commitments relate to 
commitments to undertake reviews, the clock had been reset, thus allowing the UK and Switzerland 
to carry out the reviews in a bilateral context.  
1.14.  Upon entering into the Agre ement, the Parties  had recognise d that there were opportunities 
to deepen their trade further. Therefore, they had committed to a 24 -month review clause under 
Article 8 of the Agreement to hold exploratory discussions to modernise it. 
1.15.  Work was underway to prepare negotiations for an enhanced FTA. The UK had an 8-week 
public 'call for input ' on a new trade agreement with Switzerland between 28 April and 22 June 2022, 
giving stakeholders the opportunity to help inform the UK 's negotiating objectives. Switzerl and had 
undertaken  an analogous public interest survey between 7 July and 2 September 2022. Switzerland 
and the UK were looking  forward to working closely on an agreement that was ambitious, modern, 
and comprehensive.  
1.16.  The representative of the United King dom was pleased to conduct this important exercise of 
transparency, and, on behalf of both Parties, she thanked the Secretariat for the work done for 
preparing for the meeting and the Members who had joined the debate for this consideration.  
1.17.  The Chairman  thanked the Parties for having presented the big picture for the Agreement and 
noted  the Parties' cooperation in making a joint statement on behalf of both Parties, which had 
helped the efficient conduct of the meeting. He opened the floor to the Members for comments.  
1.18.  The representative of the European Union  said she had taken due note of the Agreement and 
the presentations that had been made as well as the details included therein . She reiterated the 
great important that the European Union  attached  to the  continue d work of the Committee in terms 
of promoting transparency amongst Members and encouraged the Secretariat and the Members to 
continue to contribute towards this transparency exercise which was of great use.  
1.19.  The representative of Canada  thanked the  Parties for their efforts to bring th e transparency 
process to a fruitful conclusion for their regional trade agreement.  WT/REG437/M/1  
 
- 3 - 
 
  1.20.  The representative of Japan  thanked the Parties for their comprehensive and informative 
presentation. He also thanked the Secretariat for its efforts in preparing the factual presentations 
and wished the Parties success in the implementation of their agreement. Japan belie ved that they 
would further strengthen the multilateral trading system.  
1.21.  The Chairman  noted  that the consideration of the Trade Continuity Agreement between the 
United Kingdom and Switzerland  (goods)  had allowed the Committee to clarify a number of questions 
and conclude oral discussion of the RTA in accordance with paragraph 11 of the Transparency 
Mechanism. Any delegati ons wishing to ask follow -up questions were invited to forward submissions 
in writing to the Secretariat by 29 September 2022 and the Parties were asked to submit replies in 
writing by no later than 13 October 2022. In accordance with paragraph 13 of the T ransparency 
Mechanism all written submissions, as well as the minutes of the meeting would be circulated 
promptly, in all WTO official languages, and made available on the WTO website.  
1.22.  The Committee took note  of the comments made.  
__________