Free Trade Agreement 'made from scratch' signed between Australia and the UK

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese officially announced that the country's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Britain has passed through its parliament on November 22, on the sidelines of the 17th edition of the G20 summit. The same news was posted on the Twitter account of PM Albanese with a photo that was clicked at G20 and was captioned, "BREAKING: Our Free Trade Agreement with the United Kingdom has passed through parliament." 

Free Trade Agreement between Australia and UK 

The trade deal, which is the first 'from scratch' since UK's exit from European Union (EU), will benefit the UK by eliminating most tariffs on UK exports and unlocking 10.4 billion pounds of additional trade, as stated by ANI. The official website of the UK government said that the deal, which was earlier agreed upon by the UK Prime Minister in June, was signed on November 22 in a virtual format by the UK International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and on Friday morning will now be laid in the UK Parliament for a period of scrutiny. The deal between the two countries will generate new job prospects for businesses for both countries.

 In February 2022, the UK also signed the same kind of free trade agreement with New Zealand. Both deals will cover a number of areas such as trade in goods and services, rules of origin, technical barriers to trade, and government procurement. Further, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on November 22 that the Australian parliament has passed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) deal with India as well. Last week, Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell mentioned that the deal will empower both countries with enormous opportunities for Australian services companies and professionals accessing the Indian market.