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Written Question
Trade Promotion
Friday 17th February 2023

Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are the (1) roles, and (2) expectations, of the Prime Minister's trade envoys.

Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys are appointed to a wide spectrum of countries where they are able to make a significant contribution to the Government’s trade and investment objectives.

They champion Global Britain and promote the UK as a destination of choice for inward investment across all regions of the UK, helping to level up the country by supplementing the UK’s existing trade relations in their respective markets, working with our regional Trade Commissioners and global network to promote British business across the globe.


Written Question
Trade Promotion: Public Appointments
Friday 17th February 2023

Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what countries of strategic trade interest to the UK do not have a Prime Minister's trade envoy appointed to them; and what are the reasons in each case.

Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys are appointed to a wide spectrum of countries where they are able to make a significant contribution to the government’s trade and investment objectives and the ultimate decision is the Prime Minister’s. The government tailors our business and investor support in different countries depending on market conditions and opportunities. We are regularly reviewing countries and markets to identify where the appointment of a Trade Envoy can be of greatest benefit.


Written Question
Trade Promotion
Thursday 9th February 2023

Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) opportunities have been introduced to the UK, and (2) transactions have been completed, by each of the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys in respect of (a) each sector, and (b) each country, in the last two years.

Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Trade Envoys are appointed by the Prime Minister to support the Government’s trade and investment objectives. Trade Envoys add value in their respective markets, through the soft power influence they bring in developing relationships with key influencers and feedback has been very positive. Trade Envoys are one part of the Department’s support for British businesses seeking to export and win contracts overseas and we do not separate out the impact of Trade Envoys from our broader departmental work.


Written Question
Customs
Wednesday 1st February 2023

Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they use customs data to map market changes over time in (1) quantity, (2) pricing, (3) number of suppliers, and (4) number of importers, for each harmonized system code; and whether they use any artificial intelligence-based solution to do so.

Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department makes use of customs data to monitor and better understand patterns of demand for imports and exports of goods and is continuously looking at ways improve and integrate complex datasets and techniques further.

The Department also uses customs data from HMRC and UN COMTRADE to analyse trade flows in the context of supply chains. This is done to improve the visibility of UK critical supply chains and inform government resilience strategies. The Department also leads a cross-Government project called the ‘Global Supply Chains Intelligence Pilot’ which aims to combine government and commercial datasets, along with big data analytics, to map global supply chains.


Written Question
Trade Agreements: India
Wednesday 21st December 2022

Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the ability of UK lawyers to practice in India is being negotiated as part of the UK–India Free Trade Agreement; and if so, what progress they have made with this issue.

Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Secretary of State for International Trade met her Government of India counterpart Minister Goyal during her visit to India, 12-13 December, and emphasised how our services exports can help to grow India's dynamic economy. Talks continue to be productive, and we look forward to reaching a deal that is fair, reciprocal, and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy.


Written Question
Trade Promotion: India
Thursday 4th August 2022

Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to appointing four trade envoys to India to ensure that all economic regions are covered.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Trade Envoy Programme supports British businesses and attracts investment into the UK. The programme works in collaboration with other trade promotion activities and focuses on emerging and high growth markets where additional senior interactions can be valuable, or larger economies where multiple interactions at different levels are effective.

We are regularly reviewing countries and markets to identify where the appointment of a Trade Envoy can be of greatest benefit to the trade and investment aims of the UK with the Prime Minister ultimately making that decision. Consideration is also given to appointing multiple trade envoys where this could be advantageous to the UK.

The Prime Minister has not appointed a Trade Envoy to India.

The UK remains committed to strengthening its long, positive and wide-ranging trading relationship with India which was worth £24.3 billion in 2021 by continued ministerial engagement and dialogue including the desire to secure a Free Trade Agreement.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) analyses suitable countries, regions, and markets to identify where the appointment of a Trade Envoy can be of greatest benefit to the trade and investment aims of the UK, with the Prime Minister ultimately making the decision to appoint.

DIT following a review will make recommendations of the future size and scope of the Trade Envoy programme, including for India, to the next Prime Minister in due course.


Written Question
Trade Promotion: India
Thursday 4th August 2022

Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Prime Minister has appointed a trade envoy to India; and if not, why not.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Trade Envoy Programme supports British businesses and attracts investment into the UK. The programme works in collaboration with other trade promotion activities and focuses on emerging and high growth markets where additional senior interactions can be valuable, or larger economies where multiple interactions at different levels are effective.

We are regularly reviewing countries and markets to identify where the appointment of a Trade Envoy can be of greatest benefit to the trade and investment aims of the UK with the Prime Minister ultimately making that decision. Consideration is also given to appointing multiple trade envoys where this could be advantageous to the UK.

The Prime Minister has not appointed a Trade Envoy to India.

The UK remains committed to strengthening its long, positive and wide-ranging trading relationship with India which was worth £24.3 billion in 2021 by continued ministerial engagement and dialogue including the desire to secure a Free Trade Agreement.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) analyses suitable countries, regions, and markets to identify where the appointment of a Trade Envoy can be of greatest benefit to the trade and investment aims of the UK, with the Prime Minister ultimately making the decision to appoint.

DIT following a review will make recommendations of the future size and scope of the Trade Envoy programme, including for India, to the next Prime Minister in due course.


Written Question
Trade Promotion: Prime Minister
Thursday 4th August 2022

Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the criteria for selecting the countries to which the Prime Minister has appointed trade envoys; and when all national priority countries will have trade envoys appointed.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Trade Envoy Programme supports British businesses and attracts investment into the UK. The programme works in collaboration with other trade promotion activities and focuses on emerging and high growth markets where additional senior interactions can be valuable, or larger economies where multiple interactions at different levels are effective.

We are regularly reviewing countries and markets to identify where the appointment of a Trade Envoy can be of greatest benefit to the trade and investment aims of the UK with the Prime Minister ultimately making that decision. Consideration is also given to appointing multiple trade envoys where this could be advantageous to the UK.

The Prime Minister has not appointed a Trade Envoy to India.

The UK remains committed to strengthening its long, positive and wide-ranging trading relationship with India which was worth £24.3 billion in 2021 by continued ministerial engagement and dialogue including the desire to secure a Free Trade Agreement.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) analyses suitable countries, regions, and markets to identify where the appointment of a Trade Envoy can be of greatest benefit to the trade and investment aims of the UK, with the Prime Minister ultimately making the decision to appoint.

DIT following a review will make recommendations of the future size and scope of the Trade Envoy programme, including for India, to the next Prime Minister in due course.


Written Question
Trade Agreements
Thursday 28th July 2022

Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they measure the success of Free Trade Agreements.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for International Trade (DIT) has committed to publishing a biennial free trade agreement (FTA) monitoring report, starting in 2023, covering key monitoring indicators.

DIT has also committed to publishing comprehensive ex-post evaluation reports for the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, the UK-Australia FTA and UK-New Zealand FTA within 5 years of these agreements entering into force. These reports will use a mixed methods analytical approach aiming to show how, why, and for whom the agreements and their implementation have generated outcomes.


Written Question
Trade Promotion
Thursday 28th July 2022

Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they measure the success of the Prime Minister's Trade Envoys.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys showcase the UK’s world class expertise and promote the UK as the destination of choice for inward investment.

Trade Envoys add value to the efforts of HMG in their respective markets, through the soft power influence they bring in developing relationships with key influencers and feedback has been very positive. Trade Envoys are one part of the Department for International Trade’s support for British businesses seeking to export and win contracts overseas and we do not separate out the impact of Trade Envoys from our broader measures as part of the Outcome Delivery Plan.