Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential preference erosion impact of accession to CPTPP; and if she will make a statement.

As part of the UK’s negotiations to accede to CPTPP the Government carefully considered the impact on developing countries, seeking to achieve a careful balance between supporting developing country economies and reducing poverty through trade, while protecting the interests of UK businesses and consumers.

Alongside our FTA negotiations, the Government is continuing to use our independent trade policy to introduce the Developing Trading Scheme – one of the most generous trading preference schemes in the world aimed at helping countries develop through trade.