The UK has agreed new trade deals with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein that will see significant reductions in tariffs and paperwork on imports and exports between the nations.
Announcing the agreement, UK international trade secretary Liz Truss said it would offer a "major boost" for relations by allowing goods and services to be seamlessly exchanged across borders.
The agreement will see Norway reduce tariffs in 26 areas, which will affect goods such as cheese, poultry and pork, while UK spirits such as Scotch whisky will be recognised in the country.
For some dairy products, this will result in the removal of tariffs of up to 277 percent. However, quotas for the total amount of imports permitted will remain in place.
Meanwhile, the UK will also cut import duties on seafood, which will reduce costs for the country's fish processing industry, supporting around 18,000 jobs.
As well as reducing tariffs, the agreement will see expanded use of digital technologies such as electronic documents, contracts and signatures to reduce unnecessary paperwork and save companies time and money when importing and exporting.
The deal was also welcomed by Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg, who noted there had been a lot of "give and take" on both sides in order to come to a deal.
"Our agreement with the British must be viewed in a long-term perspective," she stated. "We will get Norway moving again on our way out of the pandemic, and then good agreements around exports are important."
However, she warned that even with the new provisions, it is inevitable that trade between the UK and Norway will be "more bureaucratic and less dynamic" than pre-Brexit, and further talks will be required in future due to the failure of both sides to agree mutual recognition of changes in regulatory frameworks.
Norwegian government figures show 22 percent of the country's exports go to the UK, making it the county's second-largest trading partner behind the EU. Oil and gas, fish and seafood and industrial goods are the largest sectors.
