Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 20.2 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the impact of the work of her Department since the agreement came into effect on cooperation between the UK and Japan to (a) identify ways to assist small and medium enterprises to take advantage of commercial agreements and (b) promote and facilitate trade and investment opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises.

The UK and Japan are cooperating to implement the dedicated small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) chapter that ensures SMEs are provided with the tools and resources necessary to seize the opportunities of exporting to Japan, including through the use of an SME website and a searchable database for tariffs. The UK and Japan have shared contact points for the SME chapter. The UK SME contact points have attended all meetings of the Committees and Working Groups established by the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

To assess the impact of this work, the Department for International Trade has committed to publishing a biennial Free Trade Agreement monitoring report, starting in 2023, and a comprehensive ex-post evaluation report for the UK-Japan CEPA within 5 years of the agreement entering into force. This evaluation will cover a broad range of impacts, including impacts on SMEs.