Long-debated Singapore-EU free-trade pact to take effect on November 21
- Announcement marks a victory for export-reliant Singapore, which becomes the first Southeast Asian nation to conclude a free-trade deal with the EU
- Negotiators settled on the date of effect seven years after the two sides reached a commercial deal
The announcement marks a victory for export-reliant Singapore, which becomes the first Southeast Asian nation to conclude a free-trade deal with the EU, according to documents from Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Singapore will remove tariffs on all EU products entering the country. The EU will remove tariffs on 84 per cent of all Singapore products entering the EU within the first year, and the remaining 16 per cent over a period of three to five years.
“The EU-Singapore FTA’s entry into force at this time is a strong signal by two like-minded partners on the need to continue upholding open and rules-based trade,” S. Iswaran, Singapore’s minister in charge of trade relations, said at the EUSFTA gala dinner in Singapore.
Negotiators settled on the date of effect seven years after the two sides reached a commercial deal. The pact had been stymied by a European court case on the role of EU national parliaments in the ratification.