Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when new rules will be introduced to allow traders to apply for a Duty Deferment Account without a Customs Comprehensive Guarantee.
Answered by Jesse Norman
To be approved for a Duty Deferment Account (DDA) under the current Union Customs Code (UCC) rules customers need to be authorised by HMRC to provide a Customs Comprehensive Guarantee (CCG). This approach will continue until the end of the Transition Period, after which the requirement for a CCG to underpin a DDA in Great Britain will be removed for most compliant and solvent businesses.
The legislation to enable this change was laid in Parliament on 10 September. HMRC are developing a new application process for businesses wishing to use duty deferment in Great Britain at the end of the Transition Period. This is expected to be available by early November 2020.
The existing UCC rules for guarantees will continue to apply to businesses using duty deferment in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the merits of extending the Debt Service Suspension Initiative to include middle-income countries.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Under the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, the G20 committed to suspend the debt repayments of the world’s poorest 77 countries. The G20 focused on these countries as they are particularly vulnerable to the economic pressures of the pandemic; and because G20 creditors have a larger share of these countries’ outstanding debt, as middle-income countries borrow much more from commercial markets. Given the more complex composition of many middle-income countries’ debt, and their access to capital markets, the G20 did not agree a blanket approach to respond to middle-income country debt vulnerabilities would be appropriate.
In 2019 the IMF assessed that 45% of the total outstanding stock of international sovereign bonds by nominal principal amount are governed under English law.
The G20 have called for private creditor participation in the DSSI on a voluntary basis. It is important that developing countries do not see their access to international capital markets become too costly or restricted as mobilising private finance will be essential for crisis recovery and long-term sustainable development. HM Government will continue to monitor implementation of the DSSI by private lenders under this voluntary framework closely, as it is important that all creditors work together to help enable countries especially vulnerable to the pandemic to protect their citizens and economies.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of international debt held by private creditors under English law; and what assessment he has made of the ability of UK creditors to sue developing countries for defaulting on debt repayments in English courts.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Under the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, the G20 committed to suspend the debt repayments of the world’s poorest 77 countries. The G20 focused on these countries as they are particularly vulnerable to the economic pressures of the pandemic; and because G20 creditors have a larger share of these countries’ outstanding debt, as middle-income countries borrow much more from commercial markets. Given the more complex composition of many middle-income countries’ debt, and their access to capital markets, the G20 did not agree a blanket approach to respond to middle-income country debt vulnerabilities would be appropriate.
In 2019 the IMF assessed that 45% of the total outstanding stock of international sovereign bonds by nominal principal amount are governed under English law.
The G20 have called for private creditor participation in the DSSI on a voluntary basis. It is important that developing countries do not see their access to international capital markets become too costly or restricted as mobilising private finance will be essential for crisis recovery and long-term sustainable development. HM Government will continue to monitor implementation of the DSSI by private lenders under this voluntary framework closely, as it is important that all creditors work together to help enable countries especially vulnerable to the pandemic to protect their citizens and economies.