Switzerland Free Trade Agreement Negotiations: Round 8

Tuesday 28th October 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade (Chris Bryant)]

The eighth round of negotiations on an enhanced free trade agreement with Switzerland took place in Switzerland between 20 and 24 October 2025.

Economic growth is our first mission in Government and trade agreements have an important role to play in achieving this. An enhanced trade agreement with Switzerland could support British businesses, back British jobs, and put more money in people’s pockets.

Services will be at the heart of a new agreement, reflecting that there is around £28 billion in services trade between our two countries in everything from finance and consultancy to legal and transport. The trading relationship supported 130,000 services jobs across the UK in 2020.

Switzerland is the UK’s 10th biggest trading partner and the UK-Swiss trade relationship was worth more than £45.1 billion in the four quarters ending Q1 2025. Services exports accounted for more than £18.4 billion of the trading relationship, making Switzerland the UK’s sixth largest services export partner.

An enhanced FTA with Switzerland aims to deliver long-term certainty for UK services firms, by locking in access to the Swiss market, guaranteeing the free flow of data and cementing business travel arrangements.

The round saw positive progress in a number of areas:

Services and investment

Constructive discussions were held across services, following a series of productive intersessional talks held over the summer. The UK and Switzerland exchanged market access offers prior to the round. Discussions continue to focus on market access supporting UK services exports.

Digital

Constructive discussions continued on digital trade in round 8 with some good progress made across the chapter. With 75% of UK services trade with Switzerland delivered digitally in 2022, the UK is seeking commitments in the FTA that will guarantee the free flow of data between our two countries.

Intellectual property

During this round, the UK and Switzerland discussed intellectual property rights areas. Negotiations will continue with the aim of agreeing a comprehensive framework for the protection of intellectual property.

Goods

Discussions continue to focus on goods market access.

We are close to concluding negotiations on the goods chapter text, which will help streamline the process for UK exports to Switzerland and vice versa.

In addition, good progress was made on the technical barriers to trade chapter, including provisions on technical regulations, international standards and conformity assessment.

Competition

Negotiations concluded on competition issues, promoting open and fair competition for UK firms at home and in Switzerland.

Next steps on FTA negotiations

Round 9 of negotiations on the FTA is set to take place in the UK in early 2026.

The Government are focused on securing outcomes in an enhanced FTA that boost economic growth for the UK and Ministers will continue to update Parliament on the progress of 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.

UK-Switzerland services mobility agreement

In addition to progress made in the FTA negotiations, the UK and Switzerland have also agreed a further extension to the existing UK-Switzerland services mobility agreement to cover the next four years, up to 31 December 2029.

The extension will ensure that businesses and services providers in the UK and in Switzerland have the certainty they need to continue to make use of this arrangement, while we are negotiating a permanent solution to this in the free trade agreement. This follows the announcement in November 2022 to extend the agreement.

The SMA allows UK professionals to travel freely to Switzerland and to work and deliver services visa-free for up to 90 days per year. The agreement also ensures UK professionals will not face economic interests tests or be required to secure work permits during these first 90 days of service supply.

The agreement also allows Swiss professionals to come to the UK and provide services under contract in a number of key skilled sectors through the UK’s service supplier visa for up to 12 months. This supports broader trade in vital industries of the UK economy, including finance, consultancy, legal services, the tech sector and the creative industries.

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