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Container port in British tea sports: trade pact with three European countries is in place
Photo: Winfried Rothermel / imago images / Winfried Rothermel
After leaving the EU, Great Britain agreed in principle on a free trade agreement with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
The British government announced that the volume of trade is currently £ 21.6 billion (around EUR 25 billion).
The contract is expected to be signed in the first half of July.
From the perspective of the government in London, the post-Brexit agreement should primarily lead to a reduction in export tariffs on British food.
For Norway it is important that, among other things, its own industrial companies continue to be exempt from customs duties and that Norwegian export companies are not confronted with more cumbersome customs procedures than the EU countries.
The agreement is the first with the three European countries to include e-commerce and small businesses, said the British minister responsible for international trade, Liz Truss.
A "significant upswing" in trade with the three countries is expected, and it is also about prosperity and job security, especially in the fisheries sector given trade with Norway.
Norway's Minister of Economic Affairs Iselin Nybø said the agreement gives companies long-awaited predictability.
"One of the main priorities was to ensure that Norwegian companies had at least as good access to the British market as the EU countries." Prime Minister Erna Solberg called the agreement "far-reaching" and "ambitious".
Great Britain has already signed a trade and partnership agreement with the EU.
The British still have to reorganize their economic relations with the countries in Europe outside the confederation.
fdi / dpa / AFP