Snags still lurk despite sealing of Brexit deal

LONDON－Britain and the European Union on Saturday published the full text of the post-Brexit trade agreement aimed at governing their relationship when the UK definitively leaves the bloc's single market within days.

The document, which is more than 1,200 pages long, lays out details on trade, law enforcement and dispute settlement among other arrangements after the UK leaves the single market and customs union on Dec 31.

Despite the complexity of the document, which includes explanatory notes and side agreements on nuclear cooperation and the exchange of classified information, both sides have indicated they will rush through the adoption.

David Frost, the UK's chief negotiator, told reporters on Saturday the deal was "one of the biggest and broadest agreements ever covering not just trading goods, but services, aviation, road transport, social security, health cooperation, law enforcement".

Professor Rajneesh Narula, the John H. Dunning Chair of International Business Regulation at the Henley Business School, University of Reading, welcomes the progress, but warns that there are difficult months ahead as many large issues are left out of the current deal. These omissions will add uncertainties to the two sides' future relations.

Notably, the deal did little for the service sector, which makes up 80 percent of the British economy.

"Not one word has been said about services. They have kicked that ball further down the road," Narula told Xinhua.

"It means that everything to do with services, that is to say banking, finance and insurance, and telecoms."

Britain's fishing industry has expressed bitter disappointment over the deal.

The National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations said the fishing industry had been sacrificed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It said the UK' s share of Celtic Sea haddock will increase to 20 percent from 10 percent, leaving 80 percent in the hands of EU fleets for a further five years.

Agencies - Xinhua