Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has given assistance to British American Tobacco in its challenge to the claim for unpaid VAT brought against it by the Government of Bangladesh; and if he will make a statement.

Her Majesty’s Government continues to engage with the Government of Bangladesh over what is, in our view, discriminatory action against a British company. Guidance was issued in December 2013 to assist compliance with the World Health Organisation’s Frame​work Convention on Tobacco Control and we have observed the guidelines for support to the tobacco industry at all times.