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Signatories to a free trade agreement form a free trade area (e.g. B Switzerland-EU). It is not a customs union, i.e. the signatories to the agreement retain their own external customs duties. On the other hand, in the case of a customs union, there are only common external customs duties. Once the goods have passed through this limit and reached the market, they can move freely between different countries, without imposing any further tariffs. Examples of customs unions: European Union or Switzerland-Liechtenstein. The EEA Agreement guarantees EEA individuals and economic operators equal rights and obligations in the internal market. It provides for the integration of European legislation covering the four freedoms – the free movement of goods, services, persons and capital – in the 30 EEA states. In addition to trade in goods, other aspects, often addressed in new agreements, are the protection of intellectual property rights, trade in services, investment, government procurement and technical regulations. These are the so-called “second-generation agreements.” In addition to bilateral technical cooperation between Member States, EFTA offers technical cooperation to help our partner countries harmonise their legal framework and implement existing rules to facilitate trade.
This assistance shall be provided within the framework of the EEA Agreement and existing free trade agreements. . . .