Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans the Government has to support companies exporting Scotch whisky; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Scotch Whisky is an important part of the UK’s overall exports, representing 20% of UK food and drink exports.
Ministers and officials from this department have regular discussions with the Scotch Whisky Association and other representatives from the industry and actively work with them to help increase whisky exports. Representatives of the Scotch Whisky Association recently joined business delegations to Africa and India led by the Prime Minister. The industry is supported in a similar way to other food and drink producers; we help them take advantage of a wide range of overseas opportunities. The importance of the industry to the UK economy cannot be overstated, being the largest export within the sector with international sales valued at over £4 billion in 2017.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Scotch whisky industry on increasing exports of Scotch whisky; if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of recent steps taken by that industry to increase such exports; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Scotch Whisky is an important part of the UK’s overall exports, representing 20% of UK food and drink exports.
Ministers and officials from this department have regular discussions with the Scotch Whisky Association and other representatives from the industry and actively work with them to help increase whisky exports. Representatives of the Scotch Whisky Association recently joined business delegations to Africa and India led by the Prime Minister. The industry is supported in a similar way to other food and drink producers; we help them take advantage of a wide range of overseas opportunities. The importance of the industry to the UK economy cannot be overstated, being the largest export within the sector with international sales valued at over £4 billion in 2017.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when he plans to submit schedules to the WTO for approval after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Liam Fox
In order to minimise any disruption to global trade and maximise certainty and continuity for businesses, we intend to present our UK World Trade Organisation schedules for certification by the time we leave the EU. These will replicate the current EU schedules as far as possible.