29 August 2024
On 27 and 28 August 2024, delegations from the EFTA States and Ukraine met in Geneva for the second round of negotiations with the objective of modernising and expanding their free trade agreement (FTA).
Thordur Jonsson, Director of Trade Agreements at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, acted as the EFTA spokesperson, while the Ukrainian delegation was headed by Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine.
Building on the extensive progress made during the first round and intersessional exchanges, expert discussions were held in the areas of trade in goods and intellectual property rights, as well as on legal and horizontal matters. The parties made good progress and finalised nearly all open issues. The few remaining items will be clarified in the coming months.
EFTA’s full report of the second round will be available soon.
EFTA and Ukraine concluded a free trade agreement in 2010. In June 2023, they jointly announced the start of negotiations to update the FTA, recognising the opportunity to significantly strengthen economic relations, benefiting all involved.
Economic relations between the EFTA States and Ukraine
Bilateral EFTA–Ukraine merchandise trade reached almost EUR 1 025 million in 2023. With an average growth rate over the last five years of 4.6% for imports and 7.1% for exports, the main imports to the EFTA States were fats and oils (EUR 46 million), woven apparel or clothing accessories (EUR 19 million) and furniture, mattresses, and similar furnishing (EUR 15 million), while most exports to Ukraine were fish and crustaceans (EUR 216 million), pharmaceutical products (EUR 171 million), and vehicles (EUR 129 million).
Read more about merchandise trade between EFTA and Ukraine here.
Source – EFTA