EFTA

EFTA is the abbreviation for the European Free Trade Association, a trading bloc established in 1960 by Austria, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland to remove trade barriers among members and promote closer economic cooperation with Western Europe. Membership later expanded, with Finland joining as an associate member, though several founders subsequently left for the EU. For food trade, EFTA matters through agreements that align food safety standards and facilitate movement of agricultural goods between member states and the EU, and its history illustrates the parallel tracks of European economic integration that shaped modern food regulation.