To add the council statement

LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Britain said on Wednesday it had struck a long-term, $5 billion-a-year trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council, boosting economic ties with allies in a region reeling from the fallout of the Iran war.

This agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, comes in the wake of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February, which sparked Iranian attacks on other countries in the region, putting pressure on energy and food supplies.

British Trade Minister Peter Kyle said that "today's announcement sends a clear signal of confidence at a time of increasing uncertainty," giving British exporters the certainty they need to plan for the future.

The British government announced that the agreement would be worth £3.7 billion ($4.96 billion) annually in the long term, more than double the previous estimate of £1.6 billion, because the final agreement exceeded previous expectations regarding trade liberalization and services sector commitments.

The agreement will remove 93 percent of the GCC's tariffs on British goods, equivalent to £580 million in tariffs being abolished by the tenth year of the agreement, with two-thirds of the tariffs being abolished once the agreement comes into force.

The government explained that cars, aviation, electronics, food and beverages will be among the sectors benefiting, as grains, cheddar cheese, chocolate and butter will be exempt from customs duties.

In return, Britain reduced customs duties on the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, but these countries’ main exports to Britain, namely oil and gas, are already exempt from duties.

With regard to services, Britain has ensured continued access for companies to the GCC countries, allowing them to expand without facing new obstacles, and the Gulf countries can develop their service sectors through this agreement.

A statement issued by the Gulf Cooperation Council said that Secretary-General Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi said after the signing that the agreement includes a framework designed to achieve "tangible, sustainable and measurable" economic benefits for companies, investors and citizens in the seven signatory countries.

He added that the agreement includes trade in goods and services, financial services, digital trade, investment protection, communications, and others.

The British government has confirmed that the agreement does not alter or weaken British environmental or data protection standards, nor does it include any human rights provisions. Activists had warned the British government against disregarding human rights in any agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Tom Wills, director of the Trade Justice Movement, said, "Britain's failure to negotiate any enforceable human rights guarantees within the agreement is a moral failing."

The agreement includes an investor protection chapter to extend the provisions to the three Gulf Cooperation Council countries that were not previously covered by such treaties, and it also includes an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, a mechanism that Wells has also criticized because it allows Gulf investors to sue the British government.

(US$1 = £0.7464)