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The UK and Switzerland have agreed a new free trade agreement (FTA). Here are the key points of the deal for UK businesses.
Benefits for service professionals and businesses
The government said the FTA includes “the most significant trade agreement for services concluded by the UK” which is estimated to unlock £5.2 billion a year in additional UK services exports to Switzerland “in the long run”.
UK service professionals will be able to trade in Switzerland visa-free for up to 90 days a year. This agreement was due to end in 2029 but it now been made permanent.
UK businesses will also be able to transfer staff from the UK offices to their Swiss offices for up to five years without being “subject to stringent economic needs tests”.
UK businesses will be able to access Swiss employees through a bespoke, visa-free, short-term service-supplier route. A UK business will be able to bring a Swiss service supplier to work in the UK at short notice for a period up to three months.
UK lawyers will be able to provide legal advisory services in foreign and international law in Switzerland without having to requalify. This follows the existing UK-Switzerland agreement on the recognition of professional qualifications, which came into force on 8 March 2025.
Switzerland is the UK’s 6th largest services export market with over £30 billion in bilateral services trade in 2025.
UK travellers able to use Swiss eGates
In a separate agreement alongside the FTA, UK nationals will soon be able to use eGates at Swiss borders, in line with Schengen requirements. They will be able to exit via eGates at Zurich Airport from “as soon as the end of 2026”. Switzerland is also working towards allowing entry via eGates at Zurich, Geneva and Basel airports.
No mobile phone roaming charges
UK tourists and business travellers will not have to pay mobile phone roaming charges meaning they will be able to use their phones in Switzerland as part of their regular contract.
Reduced tariffs for food and drink businesses
British lamb exports will be subject to zero tariffs and UK beef steaks will get a 35% tariff reduction under Switzerland’s quota system.
For UK dairy exporters, tariffs will be cut by up to 50% on products such as milk powder.
For UK fruit and vegetable growers, tariffs will fall to as low as 0% on products including peas, carrots and broad beans.
English sparkling wine producers will receive a 34% tariff reduction, described by the government as “Switzerland’s best preferential treatment on sparkling wine”.
Digital trade
The government said the “UK has secured its most comprehensive digital chapter in an FTA”, with “commitments from both sides ensuring data will continue to flow seamlessly and freely, protected by existing data privacy safeguards in both countries”.
The deal also guarantees that “unjustified restrictions on the free flow of data cannot be introduced in the future, including data localisation requirements”.
Creative industries
This government said the deal “delivers strong copyright protections” that “give UK creators and publishers greater certainty their work will be protected in Switzerland”.
It includes a review provision regarding the Artist Resale Right (ARR) which Christian Zimmerman, CEO of the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS), said “would ensure that artists are equally protected in all the major art markets in Europe if Switzerland was to adopt the right, enabling artists to share in the future success of their work”.
