Areas covered by the expert groups included most parts of the draft agreement, with others addressed at the level of heads of delegations. Further steady progress was achieved and a detailed programme of follow-up work agreed in preparation for the next round of negotiations, foreseen for after the summer break.

The EFTA team was led by Mr Jan Farberg, Director General at the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry, while Mr Maxim Medvedkov, Director of the Department for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, was the spokesperson of the customs union states.

In 2011, the three countries forming the Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan customs union were EFTA’s sixth largest export destination and fourth largest import source outside the European Union, with total merchandise trade amounting to USD 10.6 billion. Trade in services as well as foreign direct investments are also significant between the two sides.