Minister for Trade (Sir ): The tenth round of
negotiations on an enhanced Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with
Switzerland took place in Geneva between 9 and 13 March 2026.
The round followed the Secretary of State for Business and
Trade's meeting with his counterpart, Federal Councillor Guy
Parmelin, in January 2026 at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Strengthening the UK's partnership with Switzerland reflects the
UK government's commitment to economic growth with our 10th
largest trading partner, a relationship worth £49.0 billion in
the four quarters ending Q3 2025. (ONS, UK total trade, seasonally
adjusted(opens in a new tab)).
In 2020, our trading relationship with Switzerland supported
130,000 UK services jobs across finance, consultancy and legal
sectors services, transport, and other key sectors (OECD trade in employment
database(opens in a new tab))(opens in a new tab).
However, the current UK-Swiss trade agreement, signed in 2019 and
based largely on an EU-Swiss agreement from 1972, focuses mainly
on goods. It does not include services, investment, digital, or
data, even though services account for over 60% of UK trade with
Switzerland. Switzerland is the UK's 6th largest export market
for services (ONS, UK total trade, seasonally
adjusted(opens in a new tab)).
The enhanced FTA aims to provide long-term certainty for UK
services firms, locking in access to the Swiss market, ensuring
the free flow of data, and securing business travel arrangements
on a permanent basis.
The latest round saw progress in a number of areas:
Services and Investment
Sessions took place on services and investment, with discussions
focussed on market access, including financial services.
Telecoms
Discussions were held on a Telecommunications chapter, with
progress made across a number of areas to minimise barriers and
support increased trade and connectivity.
Digital
Further discussions were held on digital trade. Negotiations will
continue with the aim to deliver robust outcomes for businesses
in important areas, including preventing data localisation, as
well as on the topics of source code and cryptography.
Intellectual Property
Negotiations continued on intellectual property rights with the
aim of agreeing a comprehensive framework for the protection of
intellectual property.
Goods
Discussions continued on goods market access.
Next steps on FTA negotiations
The government will only ever sign a trade agreement which aligns
with the UK's national interests, upholding our high standards
across a range of sectors, alongside protections for the National
Health Service. Ministers will continue to update Parliament on
the progress of negotiations.
