Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for International Trade on the (a) decision to include a 260,000 tonnes Autonomous Tariff Quota for raw cane sugar in the Government's UK Global Tariff scheme and (b) effect of that decision on (i) the UK sugar beet industry, (ii) Tate & Lyle Sugars and (iii) the protection of UK food production standards in trade policy.

The Secretary of State and his counterpart at the Department for International Trade regularly consulted one another throughout the development of the UK Global Tariff (UKGT)

The Government has sought a balance between the interests of domestic production, processing and developing country preferences. To achieve this balance, the UKGT retains tariffs on sugar products, while opening a new Autonomous Tariff Quota (ATQ) of 260,000 tonnes that will apply from 1 January 2021, for 12 months, with an in-quota rate of 0.00%.We are proud of the high food safety and production standards that underpin our high-quality Great British produce. We have no intention of undermining our own reputation for quality by lowering our food and animal welfare standards. We have been clear that we will remain committed to high standards. We always committed to reviewing this ATQ and will write to you in due course.