Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the 260,000 tonnes Autonomous Tariff Quota (ATQ) for raw cane sugar included in the Government's UK Global Tariff scheme is intended to balance support for UK producers and to maintain preferential trade with developing countries; and how Department plans to enable the ATQ to achieve that.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As announced as part of the UK Global Tariff (UKGT), the Government has sought a balance between the interests of domestic production and processing and developing country preferences. To achieve this balance, the UKGT retains tariffs on sugar products, while opening a new Autonomous Tariff Quota (ATQ) of 260,000 tonnes that will apply from 1 January 2021, for 12 months, with an in-quota rate of 0.00%. This will ensure that supply is maintained while protecting developing country preferences. We also committed to reviewing this ATQ and we will do so in due course.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the European Commission press release entitled EU-U.S. trade talks: milestone reached in mutual recognition on pharmaceuticals, dated 11 July 2019, whether the recently agreed mutual recognition agreement between the US and EU will continue to apply to manufacturers of pharmaceuticals in the UK in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by George Hollingbery
All operational aspects of the EU-US mutual recognition agreement on conformity assessment (MRA) will continue to apply to the UK in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
The MRA signed between the UK and the US in Washington DC on 14 February 2019 provides continuity of the EU-US MRA, including the annex on Good Manufacturing Practice for pharmaceuticals. It is ready to enter into force as soon as the EU-US MRA ceases to apply to the UK, whether in the event of a deal or no-deal scenario.
For further information, please see https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-us-mutual-recognition-agreement
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of different possible trading arrangements with the EU for pharmaceuticals exports after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The pharmaceutical sector is strategically important for the United Kingdom and we are having an active and ongoing dialogue with industry. We want the best possible arrangements for trade in all goods and services with the EU, including the pharmaceutical sector.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to help ensure that research facilities owned by companies whose headquarters are in other EU member states or which are based in such states remain in the UK.
Answered by Mark Garnier
The UK remains a great place to do business. Annual figures published by the Department for International Trade in August 2016 confirm that the UK remains the number one investment destination in Europe; and the top European destination for investment from emerging markets. The figures show that Britain has benefitted from record-breaking inward investment by foreign companies. Across the country, 2,213 inward investment projects were secured in 2015 to 2016, an 11% increase on the previous year.
With our world-class research base, a highly skilled workforce, world-leading scientific capabilities and a competitive tax environment that includes R&D tax credits and Patent Box, we are determined that the UK should remain the best place in Europe to innovate, locate and grow a business. The UK is a global leader in science and innovation, winning 13 science Nobel Prizes since 2000 and with more Nobel Prizes per capita than US, France, Germany, Russia or Japan; it is ranked third in the Global Innovation Index and is home to 3 of the world’s top 10 universities. Following the vote to leave the EU, we remain determined to maintain the global competitiveness of the UK research base and business environment. To maintain confidence in the UK’s participation in EU funded research collaborations, the Government announced on 13th August, that HM Treasury will underwrite, for the life of the project, all competitively won EU research funding applied for before our departure from the EU.