The European Union and Norway have reached an agreement which will facilitate bilateral trade in agricultural products, the European Commission announced on Friday 7 April.
This will help EU exporters reinforce their position on their 8th largest export market for agricultural products, the Commission says in a press release.
European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan welcomed the agreement which will facilitate trade between the EU and Norway. “It will provide more market opportunities for our EU producers and contribute to the continuation of our EU agri-food export success. The EU is the number one agri-food exporter in the world with €130 billion of exports in 2016”, the commissioner said.
The EU and Norway are signatories to the 1992 Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA Agreement), which provides for the free movement of goods, with the exception of agricultural and fisheries products. Article 19 of the EEA Agreement states that the parties “will review efforts on the further reduction of any type of barriers to trade in the agricultural sector”.
The agreement, which was reached following two years of negotiations, will grant mutual duty-free access for 36 tariff lines, including, for example, various types of live plants, corn for feed, various berries and fermented beverages such as perry and cider.
Tariff quotas for beef. With regard to products such as meat, dairy, grains, vegetables and ornamental plants, Norway will grant the EU tariff quotas. In the meat sector, it will offer an additional 1,600-tonne quota for bovine meat and smaller quotas for EU chicken and duck meat, pork, hams and sausages. In the dairy sector, Norway will open an additional 1,200-tonne quota for EU cheese. It will offer an additional market opening for EU ornamental plants, maize and lettuce.
The EU will reciprocate by opening a 700-tonne quota for various types of chicken meat and a quota for preserved meat and offal. In the dairy sector, the EU will offer Norway quotas for dried milk albumin and whey products. In addition, Norway will be able to benefit from quotas for freshly cut flowers and for potatoes. The EU will also provide Norway with duty-free market access for a type of animal feed, bran, sharps and other residues.
The agreement still has to be approved by the Council and the European Parliament.
Exports of EU agricultural products to Norway have been steadily growing over the last decade, almost doubling to €2.5 billion. Norway is a net importer of agricultural products and the agricultural trade balance is in favour of the EU. In terms of total trade, Norway enjoys a positive trade balance with the EU. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)