Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he has plans to introduce legislative proposals for the Parliamentary oversight of new trade agreements.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The Government is committed to a transparent and inclusive trade policy. In July 2017, the Secretary of State for International Trade set out proposals for Parliament’s role in scrutinising the government’s proposals for new trade deals. This included commitments that Parliament would have the opportunity to consider the Government’s approach to negotiations and receive regular updates throughout negotiations, as well as playing a role in the ratification of trade agreements through the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. Any legislation required to implement a future trade agreement will also be subject to the scrutiny and agreement of Parliament.
My Department is continuing to consider the role Parliament will play in future trade negotiations, including considering the views of the International Trade Committee as set out in their report on this issue on 28 December 2018, as well as the views that have been expressed by other Committees and members of both Houses.
The Government will be bringing forward proposals shortly.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2018 to Question 133617 on UK Trade With EU, how many of the third countries have (a) agreed to continue their obligations mutatis mutandis and (b) proposed changes to their agreements which would take effect at any later date.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government's priority is securing continuity for our existing international agreements, including EU trade agreements, as we leave the EU.
The agreement reached between the UK and the EU at the March European Council sets out that the UK is to be treated as a Member State for the purposes of its international agreements during the Implementation Period.
We are also engaging with partner countries on individual trade agreements, which will come into force following the Implementation Period and will lay the foundations for deeper future relationships. None of the over 70 nations with which we have held discussions have any interest in disrupting trade flows, or erecting barriers where none currently exist.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2018 to Question 125208 on UK trade with the EU and with reference to each agreement mentioned at the URL provided in that Answer, how many (a) staff and (b) non-staff are involved in (a) replicating the agreement and (b) involved in a negotiating role with third countries; what level of experience is required for staff involved in such negotiations; and how many similar negotiations those staff have previously participated in.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The task of ensuring continuity of EU trade agreements, is a cross-government project, drawing from resource in the Department for International Trade's 500-strong Trade Policy Group (TPG), and working closely with expertise in a range of sectors from other government departments.
TPG has staff with international negotiating experience in a wide range of international organisations, including EU institutions. Over 115 TPG staff have worked on, or represented, UK interests in bilateral and multilateral free trade arrangements, including at the WTO.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2018 to Question 125208 on UK trade with the EU, whether any third countries have made any proposals for commitments that could result in a material difference from those in the agreement that is being replicated.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Our partners understand that providing continuity in our existing trading arrangements is a technical exercise and that we are currently limited in what we can negotiate due to our continuing EU membership, and that timescales make renegotiation difficult.
Partners, as the UK, wish to ensure that their businesses and consumers don't lose market access as a result of the UK leaving the EU.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2018 to Question 12507 on Department for International trade: staff, if his Department will publish data on the (a) qualifications that staff of his Department hold at Grade 7 or above, (b) number of years' experience in each area of responsibility each member of staff had prior to taking up their post within his Department and (c) length of time each member of staff has been in post.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for International Trade plans to publish its organisational chart in May 2018, in accordance with the guidelines set by the Cabinet Office for the transparency agenda. Data on the qualifications, experience, and post length will not be published as part of this, and DIT has no further plans to publish this data.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that legal mechanisms are in place to ensure that third countries, with whom the UK has a trading arrangement through EU membership, will continue to provide the same terms of trade during the implementation period; and whether the UK will be able to retaliate to changes such as increased tariffs on British goods during transition if the UK is part of the Customs Union.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The agreement reached between the EU and the UK, on the terms of the implementation period sets out that the UK is to be treated as a Member State, for the purposes of international agreements during the Implementation Period.
The agreed Implementation Period will give businesses and citizens certainty, that common rules will remain in place until the end of the period, meaning businesses will be able to trade on the same terms and have the same protections as now, up until the end of 2020.