Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether his Department plans to take steps to help SMEs understand the different regulatory environments of Commonwealth nations in order trade with those economies.

The Department has an on the ground presence in 25 Commonwealth countries. These teams work closely with British small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) helping them boost their exports. Such activities ensured that my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade could announce £1.5bn of UK-Commonwealth commercial deals at the recent Commonwealth Business Forum in London. He also announced policies to help boost intra-Commonwealth trade, one of which was the launch of the Commonwealth Standards Network to increase the use of international standards across the Commonwealth, which will support private and public sector users of standards, including SMEs. We also continue to look at reducing trade barriers bilaterally which will benefit SMEs through our current Working Groups with countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and India.