Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the Government’s policy on trade negotiations allows the UK to increase (a) current UK pesticide standards and (b) levels of consumer and environmental protection beyond existing applicable international standards.
Answered by Greg Hands
I refer the honourable gentleman to the response given to (83835).
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the Government's policy on trade negotiations includes not allowing the UK to revert to Codex Alimentarius standards on pesticides.
Answered by Greg Hands
I refer the honourable gentleman to the response given to (83835).
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what impact assessment was carried out prior to the decision to include a 260,000 tonnes Autonomous Tariff Quota for raw cane sugar in the Government's UK Global Tariff scheme on the potential effect of that policy on (a) the UK sugar beet industry, (b) Tate & Lyle Sugars and (c) the protection of UK food production standards in trade policy.
Answered by Greg Hands
Tariffs are a tax, therefore the Government will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) alongside the legislation, as is standard practice. We have committed to reviewing this Autonomous Tariff Quota (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, what assessment her Department has made of the potential benefits of the 260,000 tonnes Autonomous Tariff Quota for raw cane sugar included in the Government's UK Global Tariff scheme to Tate & Lyle Sugars as the sole cane sugar refining company in the UK.
Answered by Greg Hands
Tariffs are a tax, therefore the Government will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) alongside the legislation, as is standard practice. We have committed to reviewing this Autonomous Tariff Quota (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, whether the Trade and Agriculture Commission will review the 260,000 tonnes Autonomous Tariff Quota for raw cane sugar included in the Government's UK Global Tariff scheme in its upcoming report.
Answered by Greg Hands
Tariffs are a tax, therefore the Government will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) alongside the legislation, as is standard practice. We have committed to reviewing this Autonomous Tariff Quota (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, 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
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