Representatives of Norway’s Grimstad Planteskole horticulture centre have sent a letter to the Norwegian Minister of Agriculture, Terje Riis-Johansen, requesting he ask the government to cancel duties on plant exports to Iceland.
Currently garden plants exported from Norway to Iceland are subject to a 30 percent export toll, but the European Union has abolished such duties, reports Norwegian newspaper Adressetidende.
Norway and Iceland (as well as Liechtenstein) are part of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), but not full EU members. The EFTA allows for free cross border trade with all EU member states.
Grimstad Planteskole believes it is counter to the spirit of the EFTA that roses it imports from Denmark (an EU member) can be exported to Iceland duty free, but that its own plants are subject to the 30 percent tax. The company believes trade between Norway and Iceland should be subject to the same rules and tariffs as trade between Iceland and the EU or between Norway and the EU.