Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the total cost to the public purse for his Department’s work preparing for the UK to leave the EU has been since 23 June 2016.
Answered by George Hollingbery
HM Treasury has allocated over £2 billion of additional funding to departments and the Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This breaks down as:
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of leaving the EU in accordance with (a) the proposals set out in the Government’s White Paper and (b) a no-deal scenario.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The Department was created in July 2016 following the result of the EU referendum and was specifically established as part of the government's EU exit strategy.
At Autumn Budget 2017, the Chancellor also set aside £1.5 billion of additional funding for EU Exit preparations in 2019/20. Departments will be invited to bid for 2019/20 EU Exit preparation funding later in the year. Details of timings and process will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, through what mechanisms businesses will be able to (a) contribute directly to and (b) influence future trade negotiations.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The Department for International Trade has consulted widely since the EU referendum with a broad range of stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, devolved administrations, civil society and consumers across the UK. Means of engagement have included townhall meetings, roundtable discussions, webinars, written consultations and bilateral meetings.
The Department for International Trade will shortly be announcing how it intends to engage with a wide range of groups as we take our future trade negotiations forward.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many countries have stated that their free trade agreements with the United Kingdom which are contingent on its membership of the EU will (a) be rolled over during a transition period and (b) continue once that period is over.
Answered by George Hollingbery
Under the terms of the draft Withdrawal Agreement, the UK is to be treated as a Member State for the purposes of international agreements in the Implementation Period. This will enable continuity across our existing trade agreements through this period, and many of our trading partners have issued public statements in support of this approach.
In parallel to this, we continue to work towards bilateral agreements that will ensure continuity beyond the Implementation Period. We have had positive discussions with our trading partners on these agreements, and are confident of securing a smooth transition for businesses and consumers.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what non-tariff barriers his Department expects to remove and progress in a future free trade deal with India in (a) the life sciences, (b) information technology and (c) food and drink sectors.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The UK-India Joint Trade Review (JTR), announced during the Prime Minister’s visit to India in 2016, has enabled us to better understand the bilateral trade relationship. The review audited existing trade flows and mapped non-tariff barriers that could be collaboratively addressed, both at present and as we leave the EU. We’ve also begun a technical dialogue- between the ONS and Reserve Bank of India- to better understand statistics on UK-India trade in services.
Following the recommendations of the JTR, both countries agreed that the next phase of collaborative work will focus specifically on non-tariff barriers in the life sciences, ICT, and food and drink sectors. This is being pursued through further engagement with stakeholders including businesses, and through ongoing dialogue with the Government of India. Progress will be reported back to Ministers at the next Joint Economic and Trade Committee, expected towards the end of the year.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the legality of using Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties to continue existing treaties with third party nations once the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Greg Hands
The proposed approach to continuing existing EU international agreements during the implementation period, is based on the terms of the draft Withdrawal Agreement and on principles of public international law. The draft Withdrawal Agreement provides that Union law - including EU international agreements - will continue to apply to and in the UK during the implementation period. The footnote to article 124(1) of the draft Withdrawal Agreement, provides that the EU will notify the other parties to those agreements that during the implementation period, the United Kingdom is to be treated as a Member State for the purposes of those agreements and we continue to engage closely with our international partners in relation to this. This approach would provide a basis for continuity throughout the implementation period and aims to allow businesses and citizens to operate as they do now in respect of these agreements.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, for what reason he withdrew from speaking at the Partnering for Prosperity: A New Trade Deal with Africa conference on the 1 May 2018.
Answered by Greg Hands
I believe that the Rt Hon. Member is referring to my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade’s invitation to give a speech and attend a dinner at Chatham House last month.
As I am sure the Rt Hon. Member can appreciate, parliamentary business meant that the Secretary of State had to attend votes in the House of Commons.
However, he did attend the dinner following Parliamentary voting, which focused on the UK’s trade policy after the UK leaves the EU. A wide range of topics were raised in the discussion, including on trade and development.