New FTA between EFTA and Hong Kong
The new EFTA (European Free Trade Association) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be in force as of October 1, 2012 and the participating states will alter their duty schemes accordingly
The FTA entails industrial products that are totally relieved from duties, further processed agricultural products, services, Investments and underlines the protection of intellectual property and stipulates rules regarding trade and working standards. For basic agricultural products each country has signed a parallel bilateral special agreement.
As we all know Hong Kong serves also as a turntable for Mainland China and the FTA marks an important step forward of the EFTA group (Principality of Liechtenstein, Island, Norway and Switzerland), among we find Switzerland. This nation has exported in 2011 goods, such as watches, diamonds, jewellery and machinery (also textile machinery), to Hong Kong in the value of CHF 7.9 billion and Hong Kong’s exports to Switzerland amounted in 2010 to CHF 4.9 million.