EU, Norway Agree Freer Trade For Agricultural Goods

The EU and Norway have reached an agreement on trade in agricultural products that will grant mutual duty-free access for 36 tariff lines.

The draft agreement was reached after two years of negotiations.

Among the products that will benefit from mutual duty-free access are various types of live plants, corn for feed, various berries, and fermented beverages such as perry and cider.

Norway will grant the EU tariff quotas for products such as meat, dairy, grains, vegetables, and ornamental plants. In particular, Norway will offer in the meat sector an additional 1,600-ton quota for bovine meat and smaller quotas for EU chicken and duck meat, pork, hams, and sausages. In the dairy sector, Norway will open an additional 1,200-ton quota for cheese.

The EU will reciprocate by opening a 700-ton quota for various types of chicken meat, and a quota for preserved meat and offal. The EU will also offer Norway quotas for dried milk albumin and whey products, quotas for freshly cut flowers and potato chips, and duty-free market access for a type of animal feed and bran, sharps, and other residues.

The draft agreement will now be forwarded to the relevant authorities in the EU and Norway, for scrutiny and formal adoption before entry into force.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan said: "I welcome this agreement, which will facilitate trade between the EU and Norway. It will provide more market opportunities for our EU producers and contribute to the continuation of our EU agri-food export success. The EU is the number one agri-food exporter in the world with EUR130bn (USD137.6bn) of exports in 2016."

Source: Tax News