Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the Government has plans to pursue a free trade agreement with East Timor.

We have an ambitious programme of Free Trade Agreement negotiations - the largest such programme in the world - to help our nation become a truly Global Britain. We are currently in negotiations with eight partners, and have plans to start negotiations with Turkey and the Maldives.

The Department does not currently have plans to start a new trade agreement with East Timor. Under the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, East Timor benefits from duty free trade with the UK, in all areas apart from arms. It also benefits from some of the simplest and most generous rules of origin in the world.