A joint committee of the EFTA states and Israel oversees the implementation of the free trade agreement (Articles 26 and 27). The agreement provides for effective access to industrial commodity markets in the form of tariffs and rules of origin, which will create EFTA and UE parity for EFTA exports to Israel. Upon entry into force, all industrial products originating in EFTA or Israel states are granted duty-free access (Article 4). The U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement (FTA) came into force in 1985 and is the first U.S. free trade agreement. It continues to serve as the basis for the expansion of trade and investment between the United States and Israel by removing barriers and promoting regulatory transparency. In 2017, exports of U.S. goods to Israel decreased by 4.9% compared to 2016, reaching $12.5 billion. Since 1985, when the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement came into force, U.S. exports to Israel have increased by 456%, although the United States has experienced a bilateral deficit of $9.4 billion in 2017.
Trade in services with Israel (exports and imports) was estimated at $13.2 billion in 2017. Services exports were $5.9 billion; Imports of services amounted to $7.4 billion. The services trade deficit with Israel was $1.5 billion in 2017. At the JC meeting in February 2016, Israel proposed to resume negotiations for a permanent agreement following the current agreement between the United States and Israel on agricultural trade (ATAP). The current ATAP is the second of two temporary ATAPs negotiated by the United States and Israel due to differences of opinion on the interpretation of the free trade agreement after the conclusion of the Uruguay Round. The first ATAP, negotiated in 1996, allowed for limited preferential tariff treatment. In 2004, ATAP gained modest additional access to additional markets for U.S. agricultural products. This ATAP was not to remain in force until December 2008, but the United States and Israel have since renewed the ATAP every year in 2004 to allow the negotiation of a successor agreement. Agricultural trade is the responsibility of three bilateral agricultural agreements negotiated between the State of EFTA (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) and Israel. These agreements are part of the instruments for creating the free trade area and are governed by the disciplines applicable to trade in goods in the main agreement. They provide for significant concessions on both sides, taking into account the respective sensitivities.
The agreement covers trade in all fish and other seafood (Article 2 and Appendix II). THE EFTA states and Israel grant duty-free access to virtually all imports of fish products.
