Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 17.2 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the work of the Japanese government to implement a transparent, effective and predictable regulatory environment since the Agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Article 17.2 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) establishes that the UK and Japan shall provide for a transparent regulatory environment. The CEPA agreement includes one of the UK’s first standalone Good Regulatory Practices and Regulatory Cooperation (GRPRC) chapters which commits both parties to improving and maintaining a stable, predictable and transparent regulatory environment for businesses. The CEPA GRPRC chapter includes commitments to open and accessible public consultations for regulations in development, and robust regulatory impact assessments to ensure regulations are proportionate. The CEPA also establishes a Committee on Regulatory Cooperation to discuss these matters.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 4.6 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the steps taken by the Japanese Government to reduce the time and costs for (a) all businesses and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises since that agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The first meeting of the Joint Customs Cooperation Committee (JCCC) will be held in 2023. The UK and Japan will work towards further simplification of their respective customs procedures.
The UK makes its facilitations available to all traders fulfilling certain criteria, regardless of the size or sector of the business.
A comprehensive evaluation report for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, published within 5 years of the agreement entering into force, will cover a broad range of impacts, including the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 17.2 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what steps her Department has taken to implement a transparent, effective and predictable regulatory environment since the Agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Article 17.2 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) establishes that the UK and Japan shall provide for a transparent regulatory environment. The CEPA agreement includes one of the UK’s first standalone Good Regulatory Practices and Regulatory Cooperation (GRPRC) chapters which commits both parties to improving and maintaining a stable, predictable and transparent regulatory environment for businesses. The CEPA GRPRC chapter includes commitments to open and accessible public consultations for regulations in development, and robust regulatory impact assessments to ensure regulations are proportionate. The CEPA also establishes a Committee on Regulatory Cooperation to discuss these matters.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
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, how many discussions (a) ministers and (b) officials from her Department have had with the Japanese government on (i) training programmes, (ii) trade education, (iii) trade finance, (iv) identifying commercial partners in the other Party, (v) establishing good business credentials, (vi) participating and integrating into global supply chains and (vii) using electronic commerce, to support small and medium sized enterprises, since the agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK and Japan engage regularly at official and ministerial level to discuss how to support businesses to use the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), trade education, ecommerce and training programmes.
For example, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry have agreed to workshops, policy dialogues and commercial engagement with business in line with the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) chapter of the CEPA. In 2021, Department for International Trade and Japanese officials exchanged information on awareness-raising activities of the CEPA. In February 2022, the former Secretary of State for International Trade, my Rt Hon. Friend for Berwick-upon-Tweed, and Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs discussed the importance of trade digitalisation for businesses, particularly SMEs.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
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 work of the Japanese government to strengthen cooperation between the UK and Japan on (a) identifying ways to assist small and medium enterprises to take advantage of the commercial the agreement and (b) promote and facilitate trade and investment opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises since that agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for International Trade is content that both the UK and Japan are meeting their obligations with regards to Article 20.2.
The UK and Japan have made resources available on their respective government websites to support businesses to take advantage of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), including tariff lines and essential business guidance.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Investment have agreed to a series of workshops, policy dialogues and commercial engagement with business in line with the small and medium-sized enterprises chapter of the CEPA.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
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, how many online seminars, workshops or other related activities (a) her Department and (b) the Japanese government has held with the purpose of informing small and medium sized enterprises of the benefits available to them under the Agreement, (i) before and (ii) since the Agreement came into effect; and on which dates they took place.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Between March to June 2021, the Department for International Trade (DIT) ran a promotional campaign including events, webinars and podcasts to raise awareness of the Agreement to UK businesses. This resulted in DIT:
The UK Government continues to promote the Agreement to business, including via Export to Japan, a not-for-profit organisation, part funded by DIT.
The UK is content that Japan has met its objectives under Article 20.2.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much her Department estimates the UK’s GDP to increase by in the next 10 years as a result of current trade deals made since Brexit.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our published impact assessments set out the potential marginal long-run impacts of new free trade agreements on the United Kingdom’s GDP. Agreements with Japan, Australia and New Zealand are part of a set of deals with 71 countries plus the EU that the government has negotiated. These partners accounted for £814bn of UK bilateral trade in 2021.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Answer of 9 March 2022 to Question 133933 on Trade Agreements: Japan, whether the first batch of 38 new UK geographical indications will be formally designated by the Japanese authorities by 24 October 2022.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On 30 April 2021 the UK shared a list of 77 UK geographical indications (GIs) with Japan. All these GIs need to go through examination and opposition procedures in Japan, as required in their domestic procedures. Due to the large number of GIs, Japan requested they be split into two batches to facilitate the necessary domestic procedures in Japan.
All 77 UK GIs will undergo Japan’s procedures as quickly as possible. Concurrently the UK will run procedures on a list of Japanese GIs provided by Japan. The intention is to protect the first tranche of UK GIs and Japanese GIs on the same date once these processes are complete.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department has a target for 80 per cent of the UK's trade to be covered by Free Trade Agreements by the end of 2022.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK Government has secured trade agreements with 71 countries plus the EU. These partners accounted for 63% (£808bn) of UK bilateral trade in 2021. This includes agreements with Australia and New Zealand as well as the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which goes beyond continuity.
The Department for International Trade’s comprehensive Free Trade Agreement programme continues at unprecedented pace, with trade negotiations currently live with seven markets – India, the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), India and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Canada, Mexico, Israel and Greenland.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Answer of 18 May 2021 to Question 146 on Trade Agreements: Japan, whether she plans to correct her Department’s declaration of ministerial travel published on 7 May 2021 to reflect the cost to the public purse of her predecessor’s subsistence and expenses excluding travel when visiting Japan in October 2020.
Answered by James Duddridge
Ministerial transparency returns publish costs incurred specifically by departmental Ministers. This uses a different methodology than asked in the subsequent parliamentary questions, about the overall cost to the public purse.
There were some ancillary costs incurred by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) overseas embassy team (billed separately), related to the costs incurred by the Department for International Trade (DIT). This included the cost of translation services.
In the interests of transparency, the Department will update the DIT return with the subsequent ancillary FCDO costs.