Fishing agreement with Iceland and Norway

18/03/2021

Welcome to the new look XpressFish website. It seems appropriate to kick off our first blog with confirmation of the trade deal with our main suppliers in Norway and Iceland. For the full government statement please click on the link below. Not only is this great news for our industry as a whole but it provides total confidence for XpressFish and our customers that fish supplies will continue uninterrupted in 2021 regardless of how any Brexit deal or otherwise may look.

Purchasing Director Simon Tomlinson states, “During these difficult times, tariff free trade will be extremely beneficial as we climb free from the Coronavirus shadow of 2020, looking forward to a more settled and prosperous seafood industry in 2021”

Press release from Department for International Trade and Ranil Jayawardena MP 8 December 2020 United Kingdom, Norway and Iceland sign trade continuity agreement  

An agreement to lock in trade in goods was signed in London today (Tuesday 8 December) between the UK and Iceland and Norway. The agreement covers trade in goods, and ensures 95% of goods trade with Norway and over 90% with Iceland will remain tariff-free, providing businesses with certainty that they can continue to operate on the same terms as they do today when the transition period ends. This agreement on goods is an interim agreement while the UK and EEA-EFTA countries complete negotiations for a comprehensive FTA to come into force in 2021. UK trade with Iceland and Norway was worth £27 billion last year, with over £20 billion of this in goods. The agreement ensures British firms will continue to see duty free access for all exports of industrial products. In addition, British consumers can continue to enjoy popular Icelandic and Norwegian products such as frozen haddock. Over 30% of the UK’s imports of fish fillets last year came from Iceland, many of which are used in British fish and chips shops. Without this agreement, duties on UK imports from Iceland and Norway could have increased by an estimated £65 million under World Trade Organisation trading arrangements.