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.

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.