Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that the UK's trade partners do not refrain from exporting food products as a result of the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine placed global food security under increased pressure. Russia has compounded this by restricting exports of some of its basic foods and fertilisers. As the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General has pointed out, trade is of paramount importance in preventing hunger, and use of export restrictions can trigger a spiral of further price rises and restrictions.

G7 leaders committed to avoiding export bans and other trade restrictive measures and called on others to do likewise. The United Kingdom has been leading efforts in the WTO to put food security and the importance of open markets on the agenda for MC12, and in particular called for the prohibition of the use of export restrictions on humanitarian purchases made by the World Food Programme.