Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to increase his Department's outreach to the Brazilian agricultural Ministry MAPA for the purposes of streamlining import processes for UK exports, including whisky and gin.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government is committed to boosting the UK’s agri-food export capability and growth around the world. Recognising the potential of the Brazilian market for UK agri-food exports, DEFRA is currently recruiting a new Agriculture, Food and Drink Attaché for Brazil. This new role will strengthen our agri-food engagement with the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, working directly with officials in Brazil to broaden market access and boost UK agri-food exports. This includes supporting the continued growth of whisky and gin exports to Brazil, which is now a top 20 market for UK exports of these commodities.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what her Department’s plans are to support Scotch whisky exports to China (a) in general and (b) through supporting continued adherence to a high whisky standard in domestic regulation.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
UK food and drink, including Scotch whisky, is renowned worldwide for its quality and provenance. In 2021, whisky was the highest value UK food and drink export to China and amounted to £200.1m. The UK government’s agriculture, food and drink counsellor in China works closely with the Scotch Whisky Association and whisky companies to promote whisky in China. This includes supporting the protection of intellectual property and whisky tasting and educational events and promotions, including via digital media. Our success is built on our strong domestic standards and the quality and safety of our products.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to help support British businesses trying to secure hard currency in Nigeria.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Increasing and promoting trade with Nigeria is a priority for the UK Government. Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Nigeria was £3.5 billion last year (ending Q3 2021), an increase of 1.9% or £65 million from the previous year. At the most recent bi-annual UK-Nigeria Economic Development Forum government to government dialogue, held on 26 April, Ministers from both countries agreed to start a working group to discuss how to enhance the bilateral trading relationship.
Officials are working to support British business access foreign exchange facilities through the Economic Development Forum and the associated Finance and Financial Services Working Group.
From 2016 to 2021 UK exports of spirits to Nigeria increased by 92.1%. DIT continues to offer a wide range of support for British alcohol and spirit producers wishing to export into Nigeria. Through our work, import adjustment tax is now no longer applicable on Scotch Whisky exports to Nigeria.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Government's plans are to increase trade with Nigeria; and what recent assessment she has made of the potential for an enhanced trade partnership with Nigeria along the lines of the partnership proposed for Brazil.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Increasing and promoting trade with Nigeria is a priority for the UK Government. Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Nigeria was £3.5 billion last year (ending Q3 2021), an increase of 1.9% or £65 million from the previous year. At the most recent bi-annual UK-Nigeria Economic Development Forum government to government dialogue, held on 26 April, Ministers from both countries agreed to start a working group to discuss how to enhance the bilateral trading relationship.
Officials are working to support British business access foreign exchange facilities through the Economic Development Forum and the associated Finance and Financial Services Working Group.
From 2016 to 2021 UK exports of spirits to Nigeria increased by 92.1%. DIT continues to offer a wide range of support for British alcohol and spirit producers wishing to export into Nigeria. Through our work, import adjustment tax is now no longer applicable on Scotch Whisky exports to Nigeria.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate she has made of the potential to increase UK spirits exports to Nigeria.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Increasing and promoting trade with Nigeria is a priority for the UK Government. Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Nigeria was £3.5 billion last year (ending Q3 2021), an increase of 1.9% or £65 million from the previous year. At the most recent bi-annual UK-Nigeria Economic Development Forum government to government dialogue, held on 26 April, Ministers from both countries agreed to start a working group to discuss how to enhance the bilateral trading relationship.
Officials are working to support British business access foreign exchange facilities through the Economic Development Forum and the associated Finance and Financial Services Working Group.
From 2016 to 2021 UK exports of spirits to Nigeria increased by 92.1%. DIT continues to offer a wide range of support for British alcohol and spirit producers wishing to export into Nigeria. Through our work, import adjustment tax is now no longer applicable on Scotch Whisky exports to Nigeria.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate she has made of the potential to increase UK spirits exports to Brazil as part of an enhanced trade partnership.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate her Department has made of the annual value of UK (a) whisky, (b) gin, (c) vodka and (d) rum exports.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
British food and drink are among the best in the world and renowned for their quality and provenance including spirits which are a key export product for the UK. In 2021, the UK’s largest food and drink export was whisky which amounted to £4.6bn. In 2021, UK exports of gin and geneva to the world amounted to £541.6m, vodka £40.4m and rum £55.0m. Trade data related to “spirits – beverages” is publicly available on www.uktradeinfo.com under commodity code heading 22 of the Trade Tariff.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of growth potential for UK spirits exports to international markets.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Our Free Trade Agreements are unlocking new opportunities for our drink sector. Alcohol and other high-end goods are serving existing and rapidly expanding middle class markets in East Asia, South East Asia, Asia Pacific and the Gulf. Embracing these fast-growing markets will ensure our drink producers always have somewhere to sell their produce and be better prepared for the future.
Our Free Trade Agreement with Australia will remove tariffs on all products, including UK whisky. This could provide a boost to whisky exports to Australia, already worth £115 million last year.
A trade agreement with India could also boost whisky exports. Annual duties on UK whisky exports to India were estimated be around £164 million based on 2019 trade data.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a growing market for UK food and drinks and joining CPTPP could provide greater opportunities to sell our highly competitive products. UK wine exports to CPTPP members more than doubled between 2016 and 2021 whilst exports in UK gin increased by almost 50%.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) reducing or (b) removing non-tariff barriers faced by UK spirits exporters.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
British exports of spirits amounted to £5.7 billion in 2021. We are removing trade barriers so that the industry can grow further, enabling our world-class spirits to be enjoyed across the globe – from securing geographic indicator protection for Scotch Whisky in countries like Indonesia, to streamlining the process for importers in countries like Nigeria – and we are negotiating trade deals that will reduce barriers for British spirits exporters, like our deal with Australia that includes tariff free exports on all products including whisky and gin from the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of alcohol taxation reforms with the Government's commitment that reform will support the Scotch whisky industry and the jobs its maintains.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has announced several changes to alcohol duty that will support the Scotch Whisky sector. At the Budget, spirits duty was frozen, making freezes continuous since 2017. As part of our alcohol duty review, the Government intends to move to a system where all products are taxed in reference to the litres of pure alcohol they contain, making the taxation of other products more consistent with Scotch. Above 8.5% ABV there is to be no differentiation between product categories, providing a more level playing field between spirits and other products. These changes will narrow the difference between Scotch, wines and high-strength ciders.
Further detail about the impact of reforms on consumers will be included in a tax information and impact note when the policy is final, or near final, in the usual way.