Trade agreements of the United Kingdom
Following its withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom began negotiations on several free trade agreements to remove or reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, both to establish new agreements and to replace previous EU trade agreements. Withdrawal ended 47 years of membership during which all its trading agreements were negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of the bloc as a whole. The UK did not actually withdraw from the European Single Market and the European Union Customs Union (and its trade agreements) until 31 December  2020. , the United Kingdom has concluded three new trade agreements: with Japan; with its biggest trading partner, the EU; and with Australia. In addition, it has agreed 35 'trade continuity agreements' (that replicate their pre-existing agreements with the EU) covering 67 nations by June 2021. In addition, it has begun other negotiations, notably to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. The current Johnson ministry describes itself as a proponent of free trade. The UK's negotiating team will consult with its Strategic Trade Advisory Group throughout the negotiations. Competence and ratification process. According to UK  law the United Kingdom Parliament has the power to pass law in all policy areas. Ratification. The responsibility for concluding treaties involving the UK lies with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs. This remains the case even when the negotiation of the treaty is led by another government department. The FCO's Legal Advisers and Treaty Section: is responsible for the registration of these treaties with the UN, allowing their subsequent publication in the United Nations Treaty Series Unless expressly authorised to do so by HMG in the UK, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories do not  have the authority to become a party to treaties in their own right. The UK must extend the territorial scope of its ratification of treaties to include them. This is normally done either at the time of ratification, or at some later date. Signed agreements. , the UK had 38 trade agreementswith 97 countries, some through the use of a "mutatis mutandis" concept, in order to quickly replicate the existing agreements between the EU and these countries, only having to call out those minor areas of differentiation (this allowed some agreements to be reduced to around 40 pages from the original  around 1400). Among them are significant economies — by nominal GDP — such as the European Union, South Korea, Switzerland, Israel and South Africa. Most of these treaties have not formally entered into force on 1 January 2021. However, for many these treaties will be provisionally applied, or through a "bridging mechanism" (exchange of diplomatic notes verbale etc.) continuity is achieved. Mutual recognition agreements. Mutual recognition in relation to Conformity assessment, Certificates and Markings UK top 10 trading partners. The figures above cover up to 2019 only.