28/07/2017 (Agence Europe) – On Friday 28 July, the EU and Switzerland updated the agreement on mutual recognition (ARM) of conformity assessment, which should enable barriers to trade to be removed. Concluded as part of the 'bilateral agreements I', the ARM is based on equivalence between Swiss and EU legislation. Bringing it up to date enables market access in sectors where technical legislation has been revised in Switzerland and the EU, the Swiss mission to the EU states in a press release. This issue had been put on hold following the 2014 referendum in Switzerland on free movement – which had cast a shadow over relations between the two partners. The normalisation of relations at the end of December resulted in both parties agreeing to unblock issues, including the ARM. (SP)