The EFTA and GCC initiated an economic and commercial cooperation formalised by a common declaration on 23 May 2000 , which was the start of their bilateral cooperation mainly focused on trade. The Declaration also established a joint committee aiming at reviewing the bilateral cooperation process and formulating recommendations.

As a result of the cooperation process, the EFTA and GCC established a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on 22 June 2009, in order to develop and strengthen economic and trade relations through the liberalisation of trade in goods and services between the Member States of both organisations.

The FTA covers the following domains: trade in goods, trade in services, competition, intellectual property rights and investment, government procurement, administration and dispute settlement.

This Practice Note will provide the reader with an outline of the EFTA-GCC cooperation and a brief guide on the most relevant provisions of the EFTA-GCC FTA.

• EFTA: European Free Trade Association including Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.