Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what engagement they undertook with representatives of domestic food producers prior to taking the decision to accede to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The government has ensured that UK food producers have been able to express their views on the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific partnership (CPTPP) through frequent engagement with the agricultural sector.

We have regularly spoken to representatives of domestic food producers, including the Food and Drink Association, National Farmers' Union, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, the Agricultural Industries Confederation and the British Poultry Council.

The Department has also hosted roundtable events specifically for agricultural stakeholders, further giving them a forum to provide perspectives on CPTPP.

Agricultural stakeholders were also able to contribute to the consultation exercise on CPTPP, which received almost 150,000 responses. The Government's response to that consultation was published in June 2021 at the outset of negotiations.