Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate his Department has made of how long it will take to negotiate the UK's membership of the World Trade Organisation when the UK leaves the EU.

The UK is a Member of the WTO in its own right. However, in leaving the EU, we will need to update the terms of our WTO membership where, at present, our commitments are applied through the EU as a whole.

We recognise the need to work with the EU and with other WTO Members in order to ensure a smooth transition which minimises the disruption to our trading relationships with other WTO Members, including developing country Members and our closest trading partners.