EFTA and Ukraine heads of delegation meet to discuss modernisation of their Free Trade Agreement
EFTA | 27 October 2023
EFTA and Ukraine heads of delegation meet to discuss modernisation of their Free Trade Agreement
On 25 October 2023, high-level representatives from the EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) and Ukraine convened in Geneva to discuss the way forward in the modernisation of their existing EFTA-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (FTA) originally signed in 2010.
Þórður Jónsson, Director of Trade Agreements at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, acted as the EFTA Spokesperson, while Oleksandr Zhemoyda, Director of the Department of Trade Agreements and Export Development of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, headed the Ukrainian delegation.
Delegations discussed the modalities of the upcoming modernisation process, including the format of negotiation rounds, the exchange of initial text proposals and the working groups to set up. They agreed to tentatively schedule the first round of negotiations in the first quarter of 2024. The modernisation process of the EFTA-Ukraine FTA was formally launched during the EFTA Ministerial meeting held in June 2023.
Economic relations between the EFTA States and Ukraine
In 2022, total trade between the EFTA States and Ukraine reached EUR 845 million, of which EUR 223 million represented imports from Ukraine and EUR 622 million represented exports from the EFTA States. Exports from the EFTA States to Ukraine had an average annual growth rate of 3.9% over the past five years.
The main imports to the EFTA States were woven apparel or clothing accessories (EUR 22 million), while most exports to Ukraine were pharmaceutical products (EUR 177 million) and fish and crustaceans (EUR 172 million). Read more about the FTA between EFTA and Ukraine here.
