International Free Trade Agreements
Screening Iceland
Chapter 30, External Relations – Bilateral
Brussels, 19 May 2011
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Introduction
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European Free Trade Association – EFTA
European Economic Area – EEA
EFTAs Free Trade Agreements
Bilateral Free Trade Agreements
Termination of Agreements
Issues that require specific attention in the
negotiations
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EFTA – Vaduz Convention
• Member of EFTA since 1970
• The scope of the EFTA Convention was expanded in
2002;
– trade in services and investment;
– mutual recognition of conformity assessments;
– free movement of persons, social security and mutual
recognition of diplomas;
– land and air transport;
– public procurement;
– intellectual property rights.
• The Convention is updated by the EFTA Council on a
continuous basis
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European Economic Area – EEA
• Free movement of goods, services, capital and
persons among Iceland, Liechtenstein,
Norway and the EU members
• Does not entail a common external tariff
• Iceland and the other EEA/EFTA states
transpose into domestic law, on a continuous
basis EU legislation covered by the Agreement
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EFTAs Free Trade Agreements
• One of the world’s largest networks of
preferential trade relations
• Preferential access to markets of 670 million
consumers
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EFTA - Current Free Trade Agreements
• 22 FTAs covering 31 countries
– Turkey, Israel, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Macedonia,
Mexico, Jordan, Croatia, Singapore, Chile, Lebanon,
Tunisia, Republic of Korea, the Southern African Customs
Union (SACU), Egypt, Canada
• Colombia, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Albania, Serbia,
Ukraine and Peru
• Joint Declarations on Cooperation
– Malaysia, Mauritius, Mercosur, Mongolia, Montenegro,
Panama
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EFTA – Negotiations in Progress
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Bosnia-Herzegovina
Montenegro
Hong Kong, China
India
Indonesia
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan
--• Algeria
• Thailand
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EFTA – Dialogues on Closer Trade Relations
• Central American States
• Malaysia
• Vietnam
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What is in an EFTA Free Trade Agreement?
• First generation EFTA Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)
establish a free trade area between the partner
countries by:
– providing for free trade in industrial goods, including fish
and other marine products;
– liberalising trade in processed agricultural products;
– including trade disciplines; and
– establishing rules on customs and origin matters.
– Trade in basic agricultural products is covered by bilateral
agreements between the individual EFTA States and the
partner country, which form part of the instruments
establishing the free trade area.
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What is in an EFTA Free Trade Agreement? (2)
• Second generation elements:
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Intellectual Property Rights
Services
Investment
Government Procurement
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Bilateral Trade Agreements
• Trade Agreement with the EU (1972)
– Trade in industrial products, fish products, and
processed agricultural products
• Agricultural Agreement with the EU (2007)
• Faroe Islands
– the most extensive FTA
• Greenland
• Ongoing negotiations
– China
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Termination of Preferential Trade Agreements (1)
• EFTA Convention/EEA
– Withdrawal by a written notification to the
Depositary/other parties twelve months prior to
withdrawal taking effect
• EFTAs Free Trade Agreements
– Withdrawal by a written notification to the
Depositary. Takes effect on the first day of the
sixth month after the date on which it was
received by the Depositary
• Bilateral Agricultaral Agreements expire
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Termination of Preferential Trade Agreements (2)
• Trade Agreement with the EU
– Withdrawal by means of written notification, which shall take effect
twelve months thereafter
• Agricultural Agreement with the EU
– No provisions
• Faroe Islands
– Withdrawal by means of a written notification to the other Party,
which shall take effect on the first day of the next month after the end
of a twelve months period from the receipt of the notification
– The benefits that the Agreement provides for investors and service
providers, shall remain in place for a period of at least five years after
the termination of the Agreement
• Greenland
– Withdrawal by means of a notification to the other Party, which shall
take effect twelve months after the date of the notification
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Issues that Require Specific
Attention in the Negotiations
• Securing market access of Icelandic export goods and services
in existing free trade agreements of the EU and in FTAs that
are being negotiated by the EU
– Market access to be comparable to current preferential trade
arrangements of Iceland
• Securing Iceland's import interests, such as regarding raw
material for industry and fish and related products for
procesessing of fish and other marine products
– Securing Iceland's interests in the import of services.
• Secure trade relations with the Faroe Islands, bearing in mind
the current comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between
Iceland and the Faroe Islands
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Ministry for Foreign Affairs http://www.mfa.is
EU Application Website http://europe.mfa.is/
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