Decision

16 July 2021: Decision No2/2021 of the UK-Switzerland Trade Joint Committee amending the Appendix to Annex 1 of the Trade Agreement

Updated 18 March 2024

The full treaty decision text is available on the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s treaty page.

Amending the Appendix to Annex 1 of the Trade Agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, done at Bern on 11 February 2019

THE UK-SWITZERLAND TRADE JOINT COMMITTEE

RECONFIRMING the desire of Switzerland and the United Kingdom that the rights and obligations between them as previously provided for by the Switzerland-EU Trade Agreements referred to in Article 1 of the Trade Agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , done at Bern on 11 February 2019 (“the Trade Agreement”) should continue to apply with the least possible interruption or disturbance in a mutually advantageous manner between Switzerland and the United Kingdom;

RECALLING that the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation, done at Brussels on 22 July 1972 (“the Free Trade Agreement”) is incorporated into and made part of the Trade Agreement;

NOTING that the Rules of Origin of the incorporated Free Trade Agreement are established in Protocol 3 to the Free Trade Agreement concerning the definition of the concept of “originating products” and methods of administrative cooperation as amended upon incorporation by the Appendix to Annex 1 to the Trade Agreement;

RECALLING that the overriding objective of the Trade Agreement, as set out in Article 3, is, inter alia, “to preserve the existing trading relationship between the Parties under the Switzerland-EU Trade Agreements”, and that ability to cumulate content of EU origin is an important element to achieving this objective;

CONSIDERING that the United Kingdom is not a contracting party to the Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin (“the PEM Convention”) but that Protocol 3 to the incorporated Free Trade Agreement, as set out in Appendix to Annex 1 to the Trade Agreement reflects the provisions of the PEM Convention in a bilateral context;

CONSIDERING that, in accordance with the Appendix to Annex I to the Trade Agreement, Annexes I to IVb to Appendix I to the PEM Convention are incorporated into and made part of Protocol 3 to the incorporated Free Trade Agreement and shall apply, mutatis mutandis;

RECOGNISING that revised rules will be implemented gradually as of 1 September 2021 among the majority of the members of the PEM Convention, resulting in the amendment of the rules of origin of the relevant agreements, including the Free Trade Agreement;

RECALLING the Joint Declaration between Switzerland and the United Kingdom concerning a trilateral approach to rules of origin, signed on 11 February 2019, which recognises that a trilateral approach to rules of origin, involving the European Union, is the preferred outcome in trading arrangements between Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the European Union. This approach would replicate coverage of existing trade flows, and allow for continued recognition of originating content from either Party to the Trade Agreement and from the European Union in exports to each other, as per the intention of the Switzerland-EU Trade Agreements;

RECONFIRMING the approval of the Parties in the Joint Declaration to take the necessary steps, as a matter of urgency, to update Protocol 3 to the Free Trade Agreement to reflect the results of the revision process of the PEM Convention, where they are agreed between the parties to that Convention;

CONSIDERING that the revised PEM Rules are largely similar to the rules of origin of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, of 24 December 2020;

RECOGNISING the desirability of cumulation of origin being provided to goods having obtained originating status by the application of rules of origin in the Trade Agreement whilst providing economic operators with certainty and with the aim of continued facilitation of trade between the Parties;

DESIRING to implement the revised PEM rules into the Trade Agreement, thereby ensuring the greatest possible harmonisation of rules of origin between the Parties and other PEM countries;

RECONFIRMING the desire of Switzerland and the United Kingdom to facilitate efficient regional value chains by allowing for the recognition of originating content from Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the European Union in exports to each other;

RECONFIRMING the objectives set out in the Joint Declaration between Switzerland and the United Kingdom concerning a trilateral approach to rules of origin, signed on 11 February 2019;

AFFIRMING the intention of both Parties to modernise the rules of origin in the Trade Agreement;

NOTING that the Joint Switzerland-United Kingdom Committee established under the provisions of the incorporated Free Trade Agreement may decide to amend an Annex, Appendix, Protocol or Note to the incorporated Free Trade Agreement and that the amendments to the incorporated Free Trade Agreement are reflected in Annex 1 to the Trade Agreement;

HAS DECIDED:

1. The Appendix to Annex 1 to the Trade Agreement shall be replaced by the text in the Annex to this Decision.

2. This Decision shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the later of the Parties’ notifications by way of an exchange that their internal requirements have been fulfilled.

3. Pending its entry into force, the Parties shall, in accordance with their respective internal requirements and procedures, provisionally apply this Decision. Such provisional application shall take effect on 1 September 2021 provided that the Parties have exchanged notification of the completion of their internal requirements and procedures for provisional application by that date. Otherwise, provisional application shall take effect on the first day of the second month following the later of the Parties’ notifications by way of an exchange that they have completed their internal requirements and procedures for provisional application.

Signed in duplicate in the English language pursuant to Rule 7 paragraph 4 of the Rules of Procedure of the UK – Switzerland Trade Joint Committee as adopted by Decision No. 1/2021 of 8 June 2021.

For the United Kingdom

London, 16 July 2021

Cathryn Law

For Switzerland

Bern, 16 July 2021

Thomas A. Zimmermann