Download Iceland – China Free Trade Agreement

Iceland – China
Free Trade Agreement
WHY FREE TRADE AGREEMENT?
• Improve access to foreign markets is a core objective
of Iceland’s foreign trade policy
• Strengthen the competitiveness of Icelandic companies
and secure their access to international markets
• FTAs provides legal certainty for companies
WHY FTA WITH CHINA?
• The most populated country and increasing
market. Growing Chinese middle class
• Improved market access for Icelandic products
(fish, water, etc.) to this growing market.
• Import tariffs to Iceland are removed →
possibility for lower prices of Chinese goods in
Iceland
OVERVIEW OF THE NEGOTIATIONS
• First negotiating round in April 2007
• Second round in June 2007, third in October 2007
and the fourth in April 2008
• No further formal negotiations until 2012
• Negotiations back on track after official visit of
Premier Wen Jiabao to Iceland in April 2012
• Fifth negotiating round in December 2012
• Sixth and final round in January 2013
• Signature of the the FTA 15 April in Beijing
What does the FTA entail?
• Trade in Goods –tariffs on most goods removed
• Rules of Origin and Trade Faciliation
• Intellectual Property Rights
• Trade in Services
• Investment
• Co-operation
• Institutional and dispute settlement provisions
----• Joint statement on deepening bilateral cooperation
between Iceland and China
Other important aspects of the FTA
• The FTA provides a forum to discuss and solve
problems which companies may encounter
• The FTA provides easier access for Iceland to
Chinese administration in the field of trade
• Opportunities to extend the FTA to other
areas of trade