Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat stated that the first round of negotiations for updating the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Türkiye and the United Kingdom is planned to begin in July.
Minister Bolat made statements to the press following his interdelegation meeting with the UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, as part of his contacts in London.
Bolat said that after the change of government in the UK last summer, he held a video conference meeting with Minister Reynolds, and today they held their first face-to-face meeting, expressing that the meeting was highly productive.
Minister Bolat stated that they invited Reynolds to Türkiye and that two agreements were signed during today’s meeting.
Bolat said that in addition to the FTA signed between Türkiye and the UK at the end of 2020, which covers industrial products, agreements were signed on the chapter of technical barriers to trade and on the removal of technical barriers in automotive and chemicals, adding: “These agreements aim to eliminate the technical barriers that hinder trade between the two countries in a portion of our current 22 billion dollars bilateral trade—amounting to about 7.5 billion dollars, nearly one-third. Thus, especially for us, entry into the UK market becomes easier in automotive products and chemicals. It is a regulation that removes technical barriers, and by harmonizing with the UK, Türkiye’s standards are recognized.”
Minister Bolat announced that the eighth meeting of the Türkiye–UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) will be held in London this year and continued his speech as follows:
“Another important development is that, as agreed with the former UK Trade Minister around this time last year, official negotiations regarding the inclusion of services, e-commerce, investments, expansion, and some agricultural products within the scope of the FTA have progressed. It has now been decided that a round of interdelegation meetings will be held in Ankara before next July. This is also an important step. Of course, such negotiations take a long time, and ultimately, when both sides reach an agreement, the process will hopefully lead to the signing of the expanded agreement. Now we are waiting for the official authorization announcement from the UK side, but even before that, the trade and negotiation delegations will come together in Ankara before July and begin their discussions.”
- About the agreement on removing technical barriers
As part of the efforts to strengthen the FTA between Türkiye and the United Kingdom, the Chapter on Technical Barriers to Trade and its annexes on Chemicals and Motor Vehicles were signed.
With this step, it is aimed to eliminate technical barriers in strategic sectors valued at 7.4 billion dollars—which constitute 33 percent of total bilateral trade—enabling faster, more transparent, and safer trade between the two countries.
Thus, mutual recognition of covered products will be facilitated, bureaucracy will be reduced, costs in the chemical and automotive sectors will decrease, and exports will become easier.
An environment open to innovation will be created, while public health, environmental, and safety standards will be preserved without any compromise.
This chapter, prepared in parallel with Türkiye’s harmonization process with the European Union in technical regulations, is also aligned with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement currently in force between the UK and the EU. In this way, uninterrupted movement of goods will be ensured, and adaptation to future regulations between the two countries—including in the green economy—will become easier.
With these texts, which represent an important stage in the FTA update process between the two countries, it is aimed that companies in both countries will benefit, economic structures will strengthen, and bilateral trade will continue to grow further.
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