Brussels, 04/11/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 4 November, European Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel and Swiss Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard, Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, opened negotiations on full liberalisation of trade in agriculture between the EU and Switzerland. Given their geographical proximity and the volume of bilateral trade, both parties are obvious partners for fully liberalised trade exchanges. The upcoming negotiations are a logical continuation of the liberalisation process, which has been ongoing since the 1972 agreement and which is enshrined, as far as agriculture is concerned, in the 1999 bilateral agriculture agreement.
Negotiations with Switzerland will not focus simply on removing customs duties between the two parties, but also on other issues. Negotiations on non-tariff issues, such as food and feed safety will constitute a separate section in the talks. This part of the negotiation will begin at a later stage with negotiations falling under the responsibility of the services of Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou. For there to be a level playing field and for Switzerland to best benefit from access to the EU market, the adoption of the “Acquis” will be an essential part of the agreement which will be put in place.
In 2007, total EU agri-food exports to Switzerland amounted to €4.7 billion, and the corresponding value of EU imports from Switzerland was €2.7 billion. Switzerland is the EU's 3rd largest trading partner in this sector. 70% of Swiss agricultural exports go to the EU market while 7% of the EU's agri-food exports go to Switzerland. (L.C./transl.rt)