The UK’s free trade agreements – October to December 2023

Does the UK have new free trade agreements since leaving the EU?

When the UK left the EU, many of the agreements were "rolled over" to allow the UK to continue trading on preferential terms.

Now that the UK is an independent trading nation, it can agree new FTA's as well as re-negotiate with existing countries. Before negotiations begin, the government does a consultation which allows industry to input their views. These responses help shape the objectives and negotiations can begin. Once the negotiations are complete, the FTA is signed and both governments can begin the ratification process. After this is complete it can be entered into force, which means businesses can start using the FTA. In 2023, the UK entered into force two new free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand.

You can see the list of FTA’s in force on the government's website.

What is the progress with negotiations?

The table below shows which stage we are on for new free trade agreements.

Negotiations have been progressing over this period. The UK and India have completed its thirteenth round whilst the GCC has completed its fifth and Switzerland its second round.

Mexico and South Korea

UK businesses currently trade with Mexico and South Korea on a “rolled over” EU free trade agreement. The “rolled over” agreements were a temporary measure put in place to allow trading to continue whilst the UK negotiated a new free trade agreement. As part of this temporary measure, the rules of origin allowed for EU inputs in UK products. South Korea also allows for shipping goods via the EU, but these provisions were due to expire on 01 January 2024.  

The UK has agreed an extension with Mexico until the new FTA comes into force. The UK has agreed with South Korea an extension for another two years.

Turkey

The consultation stage for Turkey closed on the 5^th of January. The UK has a “rolled over” agreement with Turkey which allows for mostly tariff free trading on seafood commodities. We import more from Turkey than we export, with tuna (16t) and seabass (8.6t) being the main volume imports. It should be noted, there are countervailing duties imposed on rainbow trout originating from Turkey. These duties apply from 30 January 2021 to  30 January 2026.

GCC

Seafish has been asked for input on the GCC free trade agreement. We are interested to know which GCC member state you are most interested in, if the removal of tariffs would be an advantage to your products and if there are any administrative burdens you wish to report to us.

Get in touch

If you would like to discuss free trade agreements and how they may benefit your imports or exports, please email the regulation team regulation@seafish.co.uk