Guidance

UK trade agreements with non-EU countries in a no-deal Brexit

Find out which new trade agreements will be in place if there's a no-deal Brexit.

From:
Department for International Trade
Published
15 August 2019
Last updated
4 December 2019 — See all updates

This guidance was withdrawn on

Department for International Trade withdrew this publication because it was out of date.

See current guidance on UK trade agreements with non-EU countries.

Trade agreements that the UK is part of as an EU member state will no longer apply if there’s a no-deal Brexit.

The UK government is working on new agreements to replace EU trade agreements after Brexit.

This page lists trade agreements that:

  • have been signed and will take effect as soon as the UK leaves the EU

or

  • are still under discussion

Some new agreements will not be in place before the UK leaves the EU. Trade will then take place on World Trade Organization (WTO) terms.

Trade agreements that have been signed

Agreements with the following countries and trading blocs will take effect when the UK leaves the EU:

Trade agreements still in discussion

The agreements still under discussion are listed below.

If the UK leaves the EU without these agreements in place trade with these countries will take place under WTO rules.

Trade agreements

Country or bloc Nature of agreement Status of discussions Percentage of total UK trade, 2018
Albania (Western Balkans) Association agreement Engagement ongoing 0.00%
Algeria Association agreement Engagement ongoing (agreement unlikely before exit day) 0.21%
Andorra Customs union Will not be signed for exit day 0.00%
San Marino Customs union Will not be signed for exit day 0.00%
Bosnia & Herzegovina (Western Balkans) Association agreement Engagement ongoing 0.01%
Cameroon (Central Africa) Economic partnership agreement Engagement ongoing 0.01%
Canada Free trade agreement Engagement ongoing 1.44%
Côte d’Ivoire Economic partnership agreement Engagement ongoing 0.03%
Egypt Association agreement Engagement ongoing 0.24%
Ghana (Western Africa) Economic partnership agreement Engagement ongoing 0.10%
Japan Free trade agreement Engagement ongoing (agreement will not be transitioned before exit day) 2.21%
Kenya (EAC) Economic partnership agreement Engagement ongoing 0.12%
Mexico Free trade agreement Engagement ongoing 0.35%
Moldova Association agreement Engagement ongoing 0.04%
Montenegro (Western Balkans) Stabilisation and association agreement Engagement ongoing 0.01%
North Macedonia (Western Balkans) Association agreement Engagement ongoing 0.11%
Serbia (Western Balkans) Association agreement Engagement ongoing 0.05%
Turkey Customs union Will not be signed for exit day 1.29%
Ukraine Association agreement Engagement ongoing 0.10%

Mutual recognition agreements

Australia, New Zealand and United States have signed mutual recognition agreements.

Discussions with Japan on a UK-Japan MRA are ongoing. The UK and Japan have signed an exchange of letters designed to ensure the continuity of existing arrangements as a temporary measure.

A mutual recognition agreement is one in which countries recognise one another’s conformity assessments. When conformity assessments are applied to products, they are tested to an established performance standard. Inspections, quality management, surveillance, accreditation and declarations of conformity also take place.

Further information

Find out:

Updates to this page

Published 15 August 2019
Last updated 4 December 2019 + show all updates

  1. Added Kosovo to list of signed trade agreements.

  2. Added Jordan to list of signed trade agreements.

  3. Amends to 'Trade agreements still under discussion' table: 'Percentage of total UK trade, 2018' figures have been updated after publication of the Office for National Statistics' UK trade stats.

  4. Added Morocco to list of signed trade agreements.

  5. Updated as South Africa has signed the UK-SACU+M trade agreement.

  6. Added Georgia to list of signed trade agreements.

  7. Added Southern Africa Customs Union and Mozambique trade bloc countries to list of signed agreements.

  8. Added Tunisia to list of signed trade agreements.

  9. Updated after signing of UK-Japan exchange of letters on mutual recognition of conformity assessment.

  10. Added Lebanon to list of signed trade agreements.

  11. Updated to show that the UK has agreed in principle a trade agreement with the Southern Africa Customs Union and Mozambique trade bloc.

  12. Updated trade agreements table to: include nature of agreements and amend some percentage of total trade values.

  13. Updated the South Korea listing as the UK has now signed a trade agreement with South Korea.

  14. First published.

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