Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many and which countries her Department is currently in trade talks with.
Answered by Conor Burns
The UK is working with countries around the world to improve our trade and investment relationships. We will begin formal negotiations for free trade agreements with the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, as swiftly as possible. We are also interested in seeking accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Alongside this we are continuing our programme to replicate existing EU trade agreements, working with trading partners to ensure continuity for UK businesses following the transition period. And the UK is also building stronger relationships with key trading partners, such as China and India, through regular trade dialogues, including Joint Economic and Trade Committees.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what criteria she plans to use to guide negotiations on future free trade agreements.
Answered by Conor Burns
The Government intends to publish its objectives for future free trade agreements before commencing negotiations. These will be used to guide negotiations.
Our approach to trade policy is focussed on developing an economy that delivers good, skilled, well-paid jobs for individuals and creates the conditions for competitive, world-leading businesses to prosper and grow across the UK, and greater choice and value for our consumers. As we made clear in our manifesto, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare or food standards, and the NHS is not on the table.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February to Question 11626 on Trade Agreements, whether she has had discussions with her Canadian counterpart on gender-based impact assessments in addition to those on economic empowerment.
Answered by Conor Burns
We are aware that Canada has published online their gender-based impact assessment for the possible trade agreement between Canada and Mercusor. The UK has not had any discussion with Canada on this.
The Department of International Trade is committed to exploring the best domestic and international approaches for promoting women’s economic empowerment through trade.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she has had with her Canadian counterpart on gender-based impact assessments of free trade agreements.
Answered by Conor Burns
The Government is committed to pursuing trade agreements which are not only free but fair, and which advance women’s economic empowerment.? We are exploring the best domestic and international approaches and seeking to cooperate with our international partners on how to increase women’s ability to access the benefits of trade.
A strategic partnership was established between the UK and Canada?in 2017, which includes a working group on gender equality. The Department for International Trade has participated in the trade and women’s economic empowerment workstream which focuses on sharing best practice.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure public scrutiny of future free trade agreements.
Answered by Conor Burns
The government is committed to ensuring that our trade policy is subject to appropriate public scrutiny and informed by the views of a diverse range of stakeholders. To date this has included leading one of the largest consultation exercises run by the UK Government, and regular events and briefings across the UK.
We have also established the Strategic Trade Advisory Group and network of Expert Trade Advisory Groups that bring together a wide variety of stakeholders, from businesses to civil society organisations, to help inform our trade policy.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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 of undertaking gender-based impact assessments (a) prior to and (b) after the enforcement of free trade agreements.
Answered by Conor Burns
The UK is committed to promoting gender equality in the UK and around the world.
The Department for International Trade has set out its intention to publish scoping assessments for new free trade agreements, prior to negotiations commencing. The scoping assessment will provide preliminary assessments of the potential implications for different groups of the labour market. Specifically it will assess whether there are any disproportionate impacts on groups with protected characteristics. Such assessments will continue to inform the implementation of agreements.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for International Development on including civil servants from that Department in negotiations on free trade agreements.
Answered by Conor Burns
Trade negotiations will be a cross-Government effort. Negotiating teams will be led by a Department for International Trade (DIT) chief negotiator and will include experts from other departments and arm’s length bodies. Typically, a trade negotiation will involve teams of differing sizes and expertise depending on their complexity and the interests of the UK and our partners.
The Department for International Development’s Trade for Development Team are co-located within DIT and the two departments have worked closely together to deliver continuity agreements over the past year. This arrangement will continue now that the UK has left the EU, ensuring that international development is a priority for the UK’s independent trade policy.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure (a) social and (b) environmental protections are included in any future free trade agreements.
Answered by Conor Burns
We are clear that more trade does not have to come at the expense of workers or the environment. We are exploring all options in the design of future trade and investment agreements, taking into account?responses to the Government consultation exercise.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what meetings she has had with organisations and activists focusing on trade justice in the last 12 months.
Answered by Conor Burns
Since 24 July 2019 my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade has not had any meetings focusing on trade justice.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps she has taken to help enable parliamentary scrutiny of future free trade agreements.
Answered by Conor Burns
The Government is committed to ensuring that our trade policy is transparent and subject to appropriate scrutiny. Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise both UK-EU and UK-Rest of World negotiations. My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade made a Written Ministerial Statement on 6 February, HCWS101, setting out the Government’s proposed approach to free trade agreements (FTAs) with priority partners including the USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. This set out that we will publish negotiating objectives accompanied by an initial economic assessment, as well as the Government response to the public consultation. There will be further statements made in the coming weeks, setting out our plans for FTAs with global partners.