EU and Norway Conclude Negotiations to Enhance Trade of Agricultural Products
The European Union and Norway have come to an agreement which will facilitate bilateral trade in agricultural products, allowing EU exporters to reinforce their position on their 8th largest export market for agricultural products. The EU is the number one agri-food exporter in the world with €130 billion of exports in 2016.
The agreement 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. As regards products such as meat, dairy, grains, vegetables and ornamental plants, the EU and Norway will grant each other tariff quotas.
The draft agreements will now be forwarded to the relevant authorities in the EU and Norway, for scrutiny and formal adoption before their final entry into force. The exports of EU agricultural products to Norway have been steadily growing over the last decade and almost doubled during this period to €2.5 billion. Norway is a net importer of agricultural products and the agricultural trade balance is in favour of the EU.
