British reaction to the creation of the EEC was mixed and complex. Britain was also preoccupied with the Commonwealth, which, at the time of EFTA's formation, was in transition. Britain therefore brought together several countries, including some bordering the EEC, to form the European Free Trade Association soon after the establishment of the six-nation EEC (France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands).
On 12 January 1960, the Treaty on European Free Trade Association was initialled in the Golden Hall of the Prince's Palace of Stockholm. This established the progressive elimination of customs duties on industrial products, but did not affect agricultural products or maritime trade.
The main difference between the early EEC and the EFTA was the absence of a common external customs tariff, and therefore each EFTA member was free to establish individual customs duties against, or individual free trade agreements with, non-EFTA countries. Despite this modest initiative, the financial results were excellent, as it stimulated an increase of foreign trade volume among its members from 3.5 to 8.2 billion US dollars between 1959 and 1967. This was rather less than the increase enjoyed by countries inside the EEC.
After the accession of Denmark, Ireland and the UK to the EEC in January 1973, EFTA began to falter. For this reason most countries eased or eliminated their trade tariffs in preparation to join the EEC, but experienced declining revenue which reduced the importance of EFTA.[citation needed][clarification needed] Four members remain: Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.