Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress has been made towards achieving a free trade deal with Djibouti after the UK leaves the EU.
The Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act 2018 enables the UK to put in place a trade preferences scheme for developing countries that maintains the same level of access as the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences. The UK trade preference scheme will grant duty-free, quota-free access to Least Developed Countries, including Djibouti, upholding a target in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The UK has signed an Economic Partnership Agreement with Eastern and Southern Africa States (ESA). As Djibouti has not signed the ESA-EU EPA it is not party to the transitioned UK EPA although it is eligible to accede in the future.