Switzerland Enhanced Free Trade Agreement Negotiations: Round 10

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Tuesday 24th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Trade (Chris Bryant)]

The 10th round of negotiations on an enhanced free trade agreement with Switzerland took place in Geneva between 9 and 13 March 2026.

The round followed the Secretary of State for Business and Trade’s meeting with his counterpart, Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, in January 2026 at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Strengthening the UK’s partnership with Switzerland reflects the UK Government’s commitment to economic growth with our 10th largest trading partner, a relationship worth £49.0 billion in the four quarters ending Q3 2025.

In 2020 our trading relationship with Switzerland supported 130,000 UK services jobs across finance, consultancy and legal sectors services, transport, and other key sectors:

https://data-explorer.oecd.org

However, the current UK-Swiss trade agreement, signed in 2019 and based largely on an EU-Swiss agreement from 1972, focuses mainly on goods. It does not include services, investment, digital or data, even though services account for over 60% of UK trade with Switzerland. Switzerland is the UK’s sixth largest export market for services:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktotaltradeallcountriesseasonallyadjusted

The enhanced FTA aims to provide long-term certainty for UK services firms, locking in access to the Swiss market, ensuring the free flow of data and securing business travel arrangements on a permanent basis.

The latest round saw progress in a number of areas:

Services and Investment

Sessions took place on services and investment, with discussions focused on market access, including financial services.

Telecoms

Discussions were held on a telecommunications chapter, with progress made across a number of areas to minimise barriers and support increased trade and connectivity.

Digital

Further discussions were held on digital trade. Negotiations will continue with the aim of delivering robust outcomes for businesses in important areas, including preventing data localisation, as well as on the topics of source code and cryptography.

Intellectual Property

Negotiations continued on intellectual property rights with the aim of agreeing a comprehensive framework for the protection of intellectual property.

Goods

Discussions continued on goods market access.

Next steps on FTA negotiations

The Government will only ever sign a trade agreement that aligns with the UK’s national interests, upholding our high standards across a range of sectors, alongside protections for the national health service. Ministers will continue to update Parliament on the progress of negotiations.

[HCWS1435]