Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps she has taken to support producers in the global south whose trade has been disrupted as a result of the covid-19 pandemic

The UK is championing a comprehensive and coordinated trade and development response to COVID-19. This includes advocating for developing country interests at the G20 and World Trade Organisation (WTO) and adapting our policy and programming portfolios to provide immediate support.

Through the Trade and Investment Advocacy Fund, Manufacturing Africa programme and our funding to the World Bank, we are supporting countries to better understand the impacts of COVID-19, design their policy response accordingly, engage in the WTO, increase their production of Covid related goods such as personal protection equipment, and ease the passage of goods across borders.

The government has also developed the Vulnerable Supply Chains Facility which seeks to enable vulnerable people and supply chains to recover from and remain resilient to the economic and social impacts of COVID-19, by leveraging the reach and influence of responsible businesses through partnerships. The Facility, made up of £4.85 million UK aid and £2 million from businesses, will focus primarily on supply chains and workers in the agriculture and garment sectors. The partnerships are with 16 of the UK’s largest retailers and wholesalers (including Primark, Monsoon, New Look, M&S, Morrisons, Co-op, Waitrose, Tesco, and Sainsbury’s), reaching 165,000 workers directly, over 800,000 more broadly across UK supply chains in 8 countries in Africa and South Asia (Myanmar, Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ghana).