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.