EU-Swiss Ag Trade Eased

BRUSSELS - Feb 3/05 - SNS -- Conditions for agricultural trade between the European Union (EU) and Switzerland will be eased under agreements reached between the two entities.

Products exported from the EU to Switzerland will not receive any export refunds. On the Swiss side, agricultural levies and export refunds will be substantially reduced and limited to the maximum price difference for the inputs of raw materials that exist between the two markets.

Exports and imports of sugar containing products are totally liberalized on both sides. Likewise, no agricultural levies will be payable on products imported from Switzerland into the EU.

These new trade rules are part of the bilateral agreements between the EU and Switzerland, which were signed on October 26, 2004 in Luxembourg. The food processing industry is the third biggest EU industry employing some 2.7 million people with more than 26,000 companies across the EU.

The European food industry is the world's leading exporter of food products and has a positive trade balance. This sector is characterized by the diversity in its types of activities and the diversity of the products manufactured. The products covered vary from bakery, pastry, chocolate, spirits, mineral water, beer, confectionary products to modified starches or different food preparations.

More than 70 % of the agricultural goods produced in the EU are transformed into food industry products. The most important destinations for exports are: USA, Japan, Switzerland, Russia, Canada and Norway.