, Singapore

UK-Singapore Free Trade Agreement comes into force

The agreement allows Singapore and UK business to enjoy the same EUSFTA benefits.

The UK-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (UKSFTA) has been entered into force on 11 February, an announcement read.

Following the signing of the agreement on 10 December 2020 by Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing and UK Secretary of State for International Trade Elizabeth Truss, it took effect through provisional application on 1 January 2021.

Since then, both countries have worked on hastening the completion of the legal requirements and procedures for the agreement’s entry into force

Ensuring trade continuity and providing firms with certainty in trading arrangements between the UK and Singapore, the UKSFTA will let businesses enjoy the same EU-Singapore Free Trade
Agreement (EUSFTA) benefits when trading between the two countries.

Benefits include tariff elimination for goods trade, increased access to services and government procurement markets, as well as reduction of non-tariff barriers including in four major sectors: electronics, motor vehicles and vehicle parts, pharmaceutical products and medical devices, and renewable energy generation.

Tariffs would still be eliminated for 84% of all tariff lines for Singapore exports to the UK upon the UKSFTA’s coming into force, the announcement added. The rest of the tariffs will be eliminated by 21 November 2024, and Singapore will resume to bind the current level of duty-free access under the EUSFTA for all UK products entering Singapore.
 

Join Singapore Business Review community
A NOTE FROM SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.


If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Exclusives

Singapore, Hong Kong take rival paths to capture global gold trade
One builds MAS-backed vaulting for central banks, the other opens a pipeline to Shanghai.
Monday.com picks Singapore for Southeast Asia expansion
Its in-house designers created Singapore-inspired artwork in the company's colors.
Tsuklio targets dual-income families in Singapore expansion
The Japanese meal subscription platform logged 3,000 pre-registrations before launch.