British nationals can expect shorter passport queues at Swiss airports and border crossings after a £5.2bn trade deal was sealed by Keir Starmer, likely his last big international agreement as prime minister.
As part of the deal they will be able to use e-gates from later this year, starting with exit checks at Zurich airport and with Basel and Geneva, a leading airport for business and winter sports travel, to follow next year.
Mobile phone roaming charges will also be scrapped as part of the agreement.
The deal covers continued terms of trade in medicines, cars, art, jewellery, photographic materials and other goods.
But the UK’s Department for Business and Trade said it hoped to “unlock £5.2bn a year in additional UK services exports to Switzerland in the long run”.
Switzerland is the UK’s sixth biggest market for services, now worth about £30bn a year, mainly in the financial and services sectors.
Starmer described the deal as the “sixth landmark agreement” in his two years as prime minister, including the tariff deal with the US and trade deals with India, South Korea and the Gulf states.
“Whether you’re growing a business or travelling for work, this agreement is about making life easier and creating more opportunity for people across the UK.
“British firms will find it easier to sell their expertise in one of our most important markets in Europe, supporting jobs and investment here at home,” said Starmer.
Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the CBI business lobby group, said the deal recognised “real opportunities for growth” in services, which was the UK’s “super power”.
The new deal also includes visa-free travel for up to 90 days a year to Switzerland for UK services professionals, cutting out complicated immigration conditions for business travellers.
While people on longer stays will still need to go through the visa route with sponsor companies in Britain, the UK is also allowing visa-free travel for up to 90 days for companies wishing to bring personnel with them for a short period to deliver a contract.
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City of London Corporation policy chair Chris Hayward described the deal as “gold standard”, adding that reducing friction at the border through e-gates “and allowing business travellers more time to do business” had been its priority.
As part of the agreement, both sides will continue their existing pharmaceutical patent protections.
Richard Torbett, the chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said both sides had “made explicit their commitment to maintain a strong and proportionate intellectual property regime”.
There had been reports that the UK, under pressure from the Department of Health and Social Care, wanted to reduce the length of patent protection, allowing the NHS quicker access to cheaper drugs made generically.
Mark Samuels, the chief executive of Medicines UK, which represents the suppliers of nine out of 10 NHS medicines, said the deal ensured “safeguarding the NHS’s access to affordable generic medicines by maintaining current terms of protection in the UK domestic system”.
