Mr Alan Kyerematen, Minister of Trade and Industry and Madam Liz Truss, United Kingdom Secretary of State for International Trade, have reached a consensus on the main elements of a new trade agreement.

“The intention is for the Agreement to provide duty free and quota free access for Ghana and the same preferential tariff reductions for British exporters as provided by the arrangement that is currently in force,” it said.

“We intend over the next few weeks to finalize the text of the Agreement to reflect progress made in relation to rules of origin, cumulation arrangements, time bound commitments, provisions for development cooperation and commitments to human rights and good governance.

“We re-affirm our shared ambition to further strengthen our partnership in the future and to work with the West African partners to make progress towards a regional agreement.”

The Ghana-UK Joint Ministerial statement on a continuity trade agreement, which was made available to the Ghana News Agency said the two Ministers through a video conference reached the consensus on the new trade agreement.

The statement said the new trade agreement provides the basis to replicate, the effects of the existing trade relationship between Ghana and the UK.

The statement said the relationship between the two countries was underpinned by their strong people-to-people connections and had driven economic growth, created jobs, and inspired creativity and innovation in both their countries.