On Monday, 24 June, EFTA's Parliamentary Committee and Consultative Committee met with trade ministers from the four EFTA member states to discuss the status of free trade negotiations with third countries. Members welcomed the modernised free trade agreement with Chile, which was signed on the margins of the ministerial conference.

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Parliamentary Committee is a forum for parliamentarians from the four member states Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, while the EFTA Consultative Committee brings together representatives of the countries' trade unions and employers' organisations. Both committees are advisory bodies to EFTA. Their mandate is to monitor developments in EFTA's current free trade negotiations and its relations with the European Union. The advisory bodies form a key channel for dialogue and consultation on social, economic and political aspects of EFTA's free trade agreements and the functioning of the European Economic Area.

The Parliamentary Committee, the Consultative Committee and the EFTA trade ministers held their annual talks in Geneva. Switzerland which currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the EFTA Council, was represented by Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research. In addition to discussing EFTA's current free trade processes with various countries or economic blocs, such as Mercosur, Ukraine, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and other partner countries, participants discussed the ratification process and the steps needed to implement the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) signed between the EFTA member states and India on March 10. Future strategic guidelines for EFTA were also discussed in light of the geopolitical tensions and difficulties which characterise the environment for international trade.

The two advisory bodies also met with Chile's Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren Stork, congratulating him on the signing of the modernised agreement between EFTA and Chile on the margins of the Geneva meeting – after negotiations were successfully completed earlier this year. For the Swiss parliamentary delegation, it is this type of engagement that lays the groundwork for Switzerland’s successful free trade policy and strengthens the competitiveness of its economy.

Further meetings on 24 and 25 June in the EFTA consultative bodies took stock of numerous other economic and trade policy developments which are of concern to Switzerland, such as the implications due to the European Union's re​cent new policies on sustainability and trade. These policies also indirectly affect EFTA countries.

The EFTA/EU Delegation represents the Swiss Federal Assembly on the EFTA Parliamentary Committee. National Council members Hans-Peter Portmann (FDP, ZH), Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter (The Centre, BL) and Nicolas Walder (Greens, GE), and Council of States members Benedikt Würth (The Centre, SG) and Carlo Sommaruga (SP, GE) attended the meeting in Geneva.