How will a UK–Switzerland Free Trade Agreement affect UK agriculture?

The UK is in the process of negotiating an enhanced Free Trade Agreement with Switzerland. These pages provide an evidence-based appraisal of the opportunities and risks this trade deal will present.

What could the enhanced deal with Switzerland mean for UK food and farming?

In 2023 the UK began the first round of negotiations with Switzerland for an enhanced Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and a fourth round is due to start in spring 2024. Progress is being made, and final agreement may be reached in 2024.

We explore current Swiss production and trade patterns, analysis of other trade deals Switzerland has, its agricultural policy, as well as economic modelling of its livestock sectors, including:

• How Switzerland agriculture stacks up against the UK in terms of size and scale
• What opportunities there might be to export to Swiss markets
• How competitive Swiss products might be in the UK marketplace

We hope to quantify the potential impacts of a trade deal, and highlight opportunities for UK producers.

Published articles

• Introduction
• Trade between the UK and Switzerland at a glance
• Switzerland trade and production
  • Beef
  • Lamb
  • Pork
  • Dairy
• Consumer demand: Is there a market to export more UK red meat and dairy to Switzerland? 
• Agricultural policy in Switzerland
• Switzerland trade deals (coming soon)
• Economic modelling of the beef, sheep, dairy and pork sectors (coming soon)

UK-Switzerland enhanced free trade agreement negotiations on GOV.UK

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