Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the absence of rules of origin in free trade agreements on the ability of SMEs to price goods accurately.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
Rules of Origin are an important aspect of the United Kingdom’s free trade agreements, as they ensure that only the parties to a free trade agreement can utilise the preferential tariff rates offered and protect against circumvention. However, HM Government recognises that Rules of Origin create costs for traders (and therefore consumers).
This is why HM Government is seeking Rules of Origin that reflect the requirements of British industry, supported by predictable and low-cost administrative arrangements, which are inclusive and accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). HM Government is committed to providing support and guidance to SMEs so that they can comply with Rules of Origin and understand the costs of compliance.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to prepare companies for any new import commodities codes that will be introduced after the end of the transition period for the UK's departure from the EU.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
HM Government is currently running the ‘Check, Change, Go’ campaign advising business how to prepare for 1 January 2021. We have met with businesses on this issue and we are listening to their concerns. To help businesses plan for next year we have provided further advice on gov.uk pages on what new customs processes will be in place, including informing businesses that commodity codes will be staying largely the same from 1 January 2021. We will continue to make any routine updates to commodity codes and will provide more information as these updates become available.
As of 1 January 2021, businesses will be able to access this information on the Trade Tariff Tool.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to explore non-reciprocal mechanisms to allow continued market access if their negotiations with the government of Ghana to reach a continuity trade agreement are not successful.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
We continue to engage with Ghana to secure their duty-free quota-free access to Britain, through a continuity trade agreement that would replicate the effect of the existing EU trade agreement and provide lasting certainty for businesses in our trading arrangements.
If a continuity agreement cannot be agreed with Ghana then, as a lower-middle income country, they will be able to get some trade preferences through our Generalised Scheme of Preferences from 31st December 2020.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made as a result of the Digital Connectivity Cluster led by the UK and South Africa.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London in 2018, countries reaffirmed their commitment to free trade and adopted the Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda for Trade and Investment with the ambition of enhancing cooperation across the Commonwealth – boosting intra-Commonwealth trade to beyond $2 trillion by 2030. Six members came forward to lead the five ‘clusters’ (working groups): physical, digital, regulatory, supply-side and business to business connectivity. Following the launch of the Connectivity Agenda, the United Kingdom volunteered to co-lead the digital cluster with South Africa.
The Connectivity Agenda clusters have met three times so far. Members from 18 Commonwealth countries have exchanged views and experiences on the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation, digital inclusion, barriers to e-commerce and the readiness of countries to engage in digital trade. Members have also discussed developing a set of high-level principles to underpin digital connectivity. The Commonwealth Secretariat is developing a Commonwealth FinTech Toolkit and a Commonwealth Repository of Digital Policies.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they plan to provide to encourage the target growth in exports.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The Government is committed to ensuring that all UK businesses can take advantage of the significant economic benefits of exporting. According to UNCTAD global export rankings (released in September 2020) the UK overtook France to become the world’s fifth largest exporter in 2019 and was the only one of the world’s top ten exporters to increase exports in that year.
Our ambitious free trade agreement programme and market access work helps unlock new opportunities for exporters worldwide.
We also provide direct support to both new and existing exporters, to ensure firms have the confidence and expertise they need to export around the world.
Access to finance is also central to our support for business. The export finance offer from UK Export Finance, the UK’s export credit agency, helps UK companies win export contracts, fulfil contracts, and get paid.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure future trade deals do not impose new costs for (1) regulatory inspections and approvals, (2) trade licences, and (3) country of origin requirements on British (a) importers, and (b) exporters.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
HM Government have been clear in our objectives for future trade deals that we will seek to lower costs, by removing and preventing unnecessary and unintended trade barriers in markets around the world, while upholding the safety and quality of products at home.
This includes making it easier for British manufacturers to have their products tested against trade partners’ rules prior to export, and seeking Rules of Origin that reflect the requirements of British industry, supported by predictable and low-cost administrative arrangements.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what legal protections for business that need to be applied globally in order to function are best addressed in (1) multilateral fora, and (2) bilateral free trade agreements.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
DIT continues to work closely with business stakeholders and business representative organisations through regular engagement channels. Through this engagement we have the opportunity to gain insights from businesses on the trade policy issues that matter to them, including any matters they may raise concerning legal protections to operate globally. These processes help inform the policy making process and if such matters were raised we would assess whether they could be addressed in multilateral fora, such as the WTO, or in our bilateral engagement, for example through Free Trade Agreements.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many civil servants are working on initiatives aimed at increasing intra-Commonwealth trade.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The Department for International Trade (DIT)’s Trade Policy Group (TPG) has a strong core of trade policy officials, with a headcount as of end September 2020 of 676 civil servants. Within TPG there are dedicated teams in charge of bilateral trade relations with Commonwealth members, including Australia, New Zealand, and India, as well as multilateral and regional teams, such as the World Trade Organisation and Africa teams.
In addition, DIT’s overseas network of posts (Global Trade and Investment Overseas) is responsible for supporting UK exports and investment across the world. It is formed of nine regions, each reporting to a trade commissioner, known as Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC), seven of whom cover Commonwealth countries as part of their trade responsibilities. As of September 2020, there are 151 UK-based civil servants – supported by 1,320 locally engaged staff – working in all HMTC regions.
Workstreams aimed at increasing intra-Commonwealth trade are progressed by teams of varying sizes, depending on their complexity, and DIT officials also work in close co-operation with civil servants across government, including the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS), as well as in diplomatic and consular posts across the Commonwealth.
The workforce data only includes civil servants employed by DIT working in the UK and on DIT payroll, and UK based civil servants and locally employed staff working overseas paid via FCDO payroll who are currently engaged in delivering DIT objectives. It does not include staff on loan to DIT from other government departments who remain on their home departments payroll, contractors, military staff, people on secondment from other organisations, those who are on loan or secondment out of DIT, those on unpaid special leave or a career break, and people working in UK Export Finance (UKEF).
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to embed gap analysis into the process of negotiating free trade agreements in order to identify (1) the amount, (2) the duration, and (3) the terms, of trade finance currently provided by the market compared to what is needed by SME exporters.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The availability of trade finance support by UK Export Finance (UKEF) is not dependent on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.
UKEF, as the government’s export credit agency, offers a range of trade finance products to help Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) fulfil export contracts, complementing but not competing with the private sector.
UKEF’s trade finance solutions include the provision of export insurance, contract bond insurance, contract bond and export working capital guarantees. Details about these products can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/our-products.
In 2019/20 UKEF provided £4.4 billion in support for UK exports, while 77% of UK companies directly supported by UKEF were SMEs.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the application of the UK Global Tariff on the costs of UK (1) imports, and (2) exports.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The UK Global Tariff (UKGT) is tailored to the UK economy as a whole and balances the interests of UK consumers and producers. In designing the UKGT, the UK Government has carefully considered the evidence available, including feedback provided through the public consultation where we received over 1,300 responses from a wide range of stakeholders across the business and consumer landscape.
The UK Government will publish more analysis in the Taxation Information and Impact Note (TIIN) alongside the legislation, as standard practice.
Tariffs on UK exports will depend on the third country’s own tariff schedule and whether the UK has a trade agreement in place with them, not on the UK Global Tariff.