Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many UK businesses have approached the Government since January 2021 to propose additions to the list of 70 products for which it is seeking Geographical Indication protection under the terms of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

The UK Government was approached by a producer of Irish Poteen, who requested that Irish Poteen be included in the Geographical Indications (GIs) for protection under the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (CEPA). We confirmed that we intended to include Irish Poteen in these GIs. The UK Government has not been approached by any other UK businesses regarding this.

The UK Government’s aim is to protect as many of our GIs as possible. In June 2020, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) contacted GI stakeholders across the UK to seek input on which GIs should be put forward for protection under CEPA.

In November 2020, Defra wrote to stakeholders again, to ensure the GIs we will put forward reflected their preferences.