Asked by: Martin Whitfield (Labour - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of the Scotch whisky industry to the UK's food and drink exports.
Answered by Conor Burns
Scotch whisky is a significant contributor to the UK’s overall food and drink exports. In 2018, whisky exports reached a record £4.8bn, representing over 21% of total food and drink exports. This is an increase of 9.1% on 2017. The largest export market, USA, recorded export sales of £1.06bn, an increase of 12.4%.
Asked by: Martin Whitfield (Labour - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
What assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to establish a system better to enable parliamentary scrutiny of trade agreements.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As outlined in the Government’s White Paper ‘Preparing for our future UK trade policy’, we remain committed to a transparent, fair, and rules-based approach to international trade and invited views on the UK’s approach to its future trade policy.
We are reviewing responses and continue to engage with stakeholders on these issues.
After March 2019, the Government will ensure that Parliament has an appropriate role to play in the scrutiny of new UK trade treaties.
Asked by: Martin Whitfield (Labour - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he has had with the EU Trade Commissioner on the Bombardier trade dispute.
Answered by Liam Fox
I have raised the US anti-dumping and subsidies investigation into Bombardier personally with Trade Commissioner Malmström, just prior to the Department of Commerce’s preliminary determination of 26 September.