Chad Smith, NAFB News Service

Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of Britain, signed the post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union on Wednesday. Reuters says he added his signature to that of European Union leaders after the document was flown from Brussels to London. The trade deal was first announced on December 24, and it sets out the terms of Britain’s new relationship with the EU following its exit from the bloc earlier this year. The new deal will officially take effect on January 1, replacing a transitional arrangement in which EU trade rules applied to Britain. Johnson’s signature came hours after British lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of the legislation implementing the deal. Lawmakers voted 521 to 73 to progress the bill to its final stages. The accord preserves Britain’s zero-tariff and zero-quota access to the European Union’s 450 million consumers, preventing a more chaotic split that had been feared by British businesses.