Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will take steps to encourage the US administration to grant Irish whiskey from Northern Ireland the same level of distinctive product protection as currently afforded to Scotch whisky.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
I am aware of the concerns raised by the Irish Whiskey Association with regard to protection of Irish whiskey, and their objective that Irish whiskey be offered equivalent protection to Scotch whisky in the US. We sought to address this issue through our previous free trade agreement negotiations, and we will continue to raise it in our ongoing engagement with the US.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has plans to amend or remove any trade regulations imposed since the UK's departure from the EU for the purposes of facilitating the shipping of aid and donations to Ukraine.
Answered by Mike Freer
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps is he taking to help increase the level of exports of (a) pork and (b) beef from the UK to China.
Answered by Mike Freer
China is the number one export destination for UK pork in terms of value and quantity, despite the challenges of Covid-19.
The UK continues to negotiate with China to lift the ban on exporting British beef, which came into force last year following a single case of BSE. The Chief Veterinary Office wrote to Chinese officials at the end of 2021 on this issue.
The UK government's agriculture, food and drink counsellor, based in Beijing, supports UK food and drink companies to successfully export to China. Increasing exports of pork and regaining market access for beef are among DIT’s top priorities for that market.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will take steps with her international counterparts to discourage trade with Russia that may aid or assist that state's invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Mike Freer
In lockstep with our allies, we are introducing the largest and most severe package of economic sanctions that Russia has ever faced, to maximise the impact on Russia’s campaign in Ukraine and cut off funding for Putin’s war machine.
Whilst we do not speculate on future sanctions, we will continue to consider further measures to increase pressure on Putin’s regime.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential merits for Northern Ireland of the New Zealand trade deal.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Department’s impact assessment of the UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement was published on 28th February 2022 and includes impacts on the UK’s nations and regions, including Northern Ireland. The impact assessment can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-new-zealand-fta-impact-assessment
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps the Government is taking to tackle labour shortages in farming; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential effect of those shortages on trade deals.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Government has announced that the seasonal worker visa route will be extended to 2024 to allow overseas workers to come to the UK for up to six months to harvest both edible and ornamental crops. 30,000 visas will be available. This will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 if necessary.
The Government is also working with industry to raise awareness of career opportunities within the food and farming sectors to attract more UK workers. The Government does not expect any impacts of temporary labour shortages on our future trade agenda.