Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which nations that have trade agreements with the EU have (1) agreed, and (2) refused to allow the UK to continue to benefit from those agreements during the implementation period.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
Discussions with all partner countries have demonstrated a commitment to finding a pragmatic way to ensure continuity of our existing international agreements.
Alongside the Withdrawal Agreement, the EU agreed to notify its treaty partners that the UK is to be treated as a Member State for the purposes of EU international agreements during the IP. This includes trade agreements.
A number (including Canada, Chile, Israel, Switzerland, and groupings such as the Southern African Customs Union and Eastern and Southern Africa EPA States) have already publicly welcomed this approach (Library deposit of 13 September DEP2018-0926 provides a list of countries). Others are, understandably, waiting for the notification to be issued before responding formally. We are working closely with our trading partners to ensure that there would be no disruption to trade as we move into the Implementation Period.
Notwithstanding our expectation that there will be an Implementation Period, the government will continue to do the responsible thing and prepare for all eventualities with partner countries, including a ‘no deal’ scenario.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many organisations, individuals, and other stakeholders have been consulted in relation to the comprehensive series of engagement activities undertaken by the Department for International Trade surrounding its approach to its future trade policy, including future trade agreements; what were the names of those consulted; and by what means they were consulted.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
The Department for International Trade has consulted widely since the EU referendum with a broad range of stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, devolved administrations, civil society and consumers across the UK. Means of engagement have included townhall meetings, roundtable discussions, webinars, written consultations and bilateral meetings. The Government will continue to engage widely with stakeholders and welcomes continued input as it develops a future trade policy which supports the Government's industrial strategy and businesses and consumers across the whole nation.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what agreements they have entered into with United States counterparts over the past six months regarding the availability of public information about the details or progress of trade negotiations between the UK and the US.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
As outlined in the Trade White Paper - ‘Preparing for our Future UK Trade Policy’ - the UK is committed to a transparent approach to international trade. We have invited views on the UK’s approach to future trade agreements, and engagement with stakeholders is ongoing.
On 9th November 2017 the UK and US exchanged letters on mutually agreed protocols for the treatment of information exchanged in the course of the Trade and Investment Working Group. It does not pre-judge the UK’s approach to transparency regarding the details or progress of negotiations.
Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/arrangement-for-exchanging-information-during-the-uk-us-trade-and-investment-working-group
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need for transparency around trade negotiations; and at what stage in the negotiation of new trade agreements they will release information to Parliament and the public on (1) the subjects under discussion, and (2) potential changes in UK laws and policies being contemplated as part of future trade agreements.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
As outlined in the Trade White Paper - ‘Preparing for our Future UK Trade Policy’ – the UK remains committed to a transparent, fair, and rules-based approach to international trade and has invited views on the UK’s approach to its future trade policy including future trade agreements. The Department has undertaken a comprehensive series of engagement activities to ensure a wide range of stakeholder views are gathered. These views will inform our trade policy and legislative framework for future agreements and will help to develop the appropriate processes for public and parliamentary scrutiny. No decisions have yet been taken as stakeholder consultations are ongoing.
We will continue to respect the role of Parliament when agreeing the terms of future trade agreements.