Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps her Department has taken to help increase the quantity of trade between the UK and Chile.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Trade between the United Kingdom and Chile was worth £1.4bn in 2020. Last year, my Department successfully negotiated and brought into force the United Kingdom-Chile Association Agreement that maintains preferential trading conditions, providing certainty for businesses.
Chile is also a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and is supportive of the United Kingdom’s planned accession.
In October 2020, I co-chaired the inaugural Anglo-Chilean dialogue where we agreed to work together to boost trade in important sectors such as Financial Services, Life Sciences, and Infrastructure.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
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 merits of securing a bilateral trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Britain has strong bilateral trading relationships with our friends in the Gulf and a clear ambition to deepen them. The Gulf is already one of our largest export destinations, with trade of over £30 billion in 2020, but there are many sectors in which we can collaborate further.
We are currently conducting a Joint Trade and Investment Review with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Upon completion of the review shortly, we will look to deliver on its recommendations, as we continue to broaden and deepen our trade and investment relationships with countries in the Gulf.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
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 merits of securing a bilateral trade agreement with Bahrain.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Britain has strong bilateral trading relationships with our friends in the Gulf and a clear ambition to deepen them. The Gulf is already one of our largest export destinations, with trade of over £30 billion in 2020, but there are many sectors in which we can collaborate further.
We are currently conducting a Joint Trade and Investment Review with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Upon completion of the review shortly, we will look to deliver on its recommendations, as we continue to broaden and deepen our trade and investment relationships with countries in the Gulf.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
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 merits of securing a bilateral trade agreement with Qatar.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Britain has strong bilateral trading relationships with our friends in the Gulf and a clear ambition to deepen them. The Gulf is already one of our largest export destinations, with trade of over £30 billion in 2020, but there are many sectors in which we can collaborate further.
We are currently conducting a Joint Trade and Investment Review with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Upon completion of the review shortly, we will look to deliver on its recommendations, as we continue to broaden and deepen our trade and investment relationships with countries in the Gulf.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the bilateral trade agreement with Oman.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Britain has strong bilateral trading relationships with our friends in the Gulf and a clear ambition to deepen them. The Gulf is already one of our largest export destinations, with trade of over £30 billion in 2020, but there are many sectors in which we can collaborate further.
We are currently conducting a Joint Trade and Investment Review with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Upon completion of the review shortly, we will look to deliver on its recommendations, as we continue to broaden and deepen our trade and investment relationships with countries in the Gulf.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what her planned timescale is for the beginning of formal discussions for the UK to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Answered by Greg Hands
On 1st February, we submitted our notification of intent to begin the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) accession process.
This is the first formal step towards accession before formal negotiations start later in the year. The CPTPP member countries are now considering our notification and will decide when to commence negotiations. These would be taken forward through an Accession Working Group to agree the terms of our accession.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what timeframe is for the free trade agreement with Canada to come into force.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) completed Parliamentary scrutiny in the UK under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act on 3rd February 2021, and will come into force once Canada completes its own parliamentary procedures.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the timeframe is for the free trade agreement with Albania to come into force.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom-Albania trade deal was signed in Tirana on 5th February 2021 and formally laid in Parliament on 19th February 2021. It is expected to enter into force in early May, following the completion of both British and Albanian domestic processes.
We have published the text of the agreement and guidance for British business at: gov.uk/government/collections/uk-albania-partnership-trade-and-cooperation-agreement.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the timeframe is for the free trade agreement with Mexico to come into force.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom-Mexico trade deal was formally laid in Parliament on 26th February 2021. Mexico is in the process of completing their domestic legislative processes required to bring the agreement into force too.
We have published the text of the agreement and guidance for British business at: gov.uk/government/publications/ukmexico-trade-continuity-agreement.