Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether any civil servants that transferred to his Department from other Government departments or public bodies received severance pay or other similar payments.
Answered by Mark Garnier
There are no civil servants that will receive severance pay or any other payments as part of their transfer to the Department for International Trade.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the Government plans to re-apply for World Trade Organisation membership upon leaving the EU; and what assessment he has made of the length of time it would take for such an application to be successful.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK is already a member of the WTO in its own right and will not need to re-apply upon leaving the EU.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many and what proportion of (a) existing trade deals and (b) trade deals under negotiation by the EU will be available to countries in the European Free Trade Area.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Countries in the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are not party to any EU trade deals, either existing or under negotiation.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether it is the Government's intention to sign up to (a) any or (b) all of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) level trade treaties with countries outside the EFTA in the event that the UK joined the EFTA.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Prime Minister has been clear, we are not going to provide a running commentary on every twist and turn of these negotiations. We recognise the need for a smooth transition as the UK leaves the EU which minimises disruption to our trading relationships. Ministers and officials in the Department for International Trade are working closely with counterparts across a wide range of markets in order to promote the UK as a great place to do business and with which to trade. We are taking advantage of all the opportunities available to us to ensure that Britain becomes the global leader in free trade once we leave the EU.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with which countries the UK has initiated negotiations on possible bilateral trade agreements.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We recognise the need for a smooth transition as the UK leaves the EU which minimises disruption to our trading relationships. Ministers and officials in the Department for International Trade are working closely with counterparts across a wide range of markets in order to promote the UK as a great place to do business and with which to trade. We are taking advantage of all the opportunities available to us to ensure that Britain becomes the global leader in free trade once we leave the EU.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Prime Minister's contribution of 12 October 2016, HC Deb, column 297, which countries have actively approached the UK about potential trade deals.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are taking advantage of all the opportunities available to us to ensure that Britain becomes the global leader in free trade once we leave the EU. As the Prime Minister has recently said, countries including Canada, China, India, Mexico, Singapore and South Korea have already told us they would welcome talks on future free trade agreements, and we have already agreed to start scoping discussions on trade agreements with Australia. More recently, my Rt. Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade announced the establishment of a UK-New Zealand trade policy dialogue that will cover market access and trade policy issues of mutual interest.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will make it his policy that the UK leaving the EU will not (a) affect the UK's position as a signatory to the EU's Code of Conduct on Arms Exports and (b) require any amendment of the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.
Answered by Mark Garnier
Until we leave the EU, the UK will remain a full member, with all of the rights and obligations. This includes those relating to export licencing policy.
The assessment framework provided by the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, as set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 25 March 2014, remains in force.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to Question 30754 and the Written Ministerial Statement of 21 July 2016, HCWS 125, whether Saudi Arabia remains fully compliant with the UK's export license criteria.
Answered by Mark Garnier
The Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously. The test applied to an export licence application is whether the proposed export complies with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. We carefully assess each licence application against these Criteria and will not grant a licence if to do so would breach the Criteria.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to Question 30754, how many arms export licenses to Saudi Arabia have been revoked in each year since 2009-10.
Answered by Mark Garnier
Data relating to export licences issued, refused or revoked for all destinations is published as official statistics on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what preparations have been made for the UK having its own representative at the World Trade Organisation.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has been a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in its own right since the establishment of the WTO in 1995. The UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the WTO is currently Julian Braithwaite.