Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research EAER State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO Bilateral Economic Relations Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government Market Access Workshop University of Bern, October 26, 2018 Ambassador Erwin Bollinger Delegate of the Swiss Federal Council for Trade Agreements Head of the Bilateral Economic Relations Division, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs
Confetti? Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 2
Switzerland: A Trading Nation Quelle: DHL Global Connectedness Index (2015) Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 3
Mission Statement: Bilateral Economic Relations • Shaping of foreign economic policy in a bilateral setting • Economic diplomacy : à Missions à Bilateral visits à Joint economic commissions • Support for Swiss companies on the ground Seeking and ensuring market access Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 4
Swiss Market Access Policy Three pillars of the Swiss market access policy Bilateral FTAs with Non- WTO Agreements with EU partners the EU Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 5 5
WTO • Reliable and enforceable international rules • Predictability and legal security • Transparency Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 6
Switzerland–EU CHF 133bn Trade CHF 117bn (71% of CH imports) 2017 (*1) (53% of CH exports) EUR 977bn EUR 129 bn Direct investment Services 2016 (*2) 2016 (*2) EUR 767bn EUR 70 bn Sources: (*1) Swiss-Impex (Total 1), (*2) Eurostat Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 7
Switzerland-EU Agreements/Area s based on Harmonisation Classical FTA Relationship Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 8
Free Trade Agreements 30 free trade agreements with 40 partners outside the EU Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 9
Ongoing negotiations Negotiations for new FTAs: • India (17 rounds, last one in Sept. 2017) • Indonesia (15 rounds, Aug. 2018) • Malaysia (8 rounds, March 2017) • Mercosur (5 rounds, Oct. 2018) • Vietnam (16 rounds, May 2018) Modernization and expansion of existing FTAs: • Mexico • SACU • Prospective: Canada, Chile Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 10
Increasing FTA Depth over Time - Design of Trade Agreements (DESTA) database: 0-7 index à goods, services, investment, IPR, standards, public procurement and competition policy Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 11
General scope of Swiss FTAs and Priorities* • Preamble • Trade in goods: Market access for agricultural & industrial* goods • Sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) • Technical barriers to trade (TBT) • Trade in services: Financial and logistics services* • Investment • Protection of intellectual property* • Government procurement* • Competition • Trade and sustainable development* • Institutional provisions • Dispute settlement à EU external trade policy as an important reference for EFTA Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 12
What’s ahead: WTO pillar • Continuation of discussions on topics of interest to wider WTO membership in multilateral or plurilateral formats: E.g. fisheries subsidies, E-commerce, MSMEs and investment facilitation. • Importance of filling vacancies on the Appellate Body without delay. • Further scope for strengthening the work of the regular committees and increasing transparency . Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 13
What’s ahead: EU pillar • Future relations: Institutional framework agreement • Brexit: Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 14
What’s ahead: FTA pillar • Conclusion of the ongoing negotiations • Modernisation of existing agreements à Avoiding discrimination • New agreements, new benchmarks? Market Access: Perspectives from the Swiss government 15
Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research EAER State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO Bilateral Economic Relations Thank you for your attention! erwin.bollinger@seco.admin.ch
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