Switzerland and UK sign trade conformity agreement
Switzerland and the United Kingdom have signed a deal on the mutual recognition of conformity assessments. It means that for certain business sectors, product testing by a British conformity body is no longer required for exports from Switzerland to the UK.
The agreement, approved by the Federal Council on November 16, will be provisionally applied from January 1, 2023 and will enter into force no later than February 28, 2023, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) saidExternal link on Thursday.
The deal covers five new areas, in addition to three that already feature in a 2019 trade agreement: transportable pressure equipment, telecommunications equipment, electromagnetic compatibility, noise emissions from equipment used outdoors and measuring instruments.
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Under the new agreement, products can be tested according to Swiss regulations for Switzerland and according to UK regulations for the UK; they only need to be tested by one conformity assessment body, either in Switzerland or in the UK. This allows manufacturers to reduce costs and time delays when exporting to the UK, SECO said.
Switzerland is the UK’s 10th largest trading partner worldwide. Conversely, the UK is Switzerland’s eighth largest trading partner (excluding precious metals).
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