Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the average amount of time taken is for EU trade agreements with other countries to be (a) negotiated and (b) ratified.

The amount of time taken to negotiate and ratify EU trade agreements can vary substantially. However, as an indication, negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic & Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada were concluded after five years of formal talks, whilst negotiations with Vietnam and Singapore took three and four years respectively. The EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement of 2011 is the most recent agreement to be fully concluded, with the EU and all Member States having ratified by 2015. In each case, timeframes are not necessarily indicative for other agreements.