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, which non-governmental organisations her Department has promoted cooperation between to assist the business of small and medium enterprises since that agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK Government promotes the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to business via Export to Japan, a not-for-profit organisation, part funded by the Department for International Trade (DIT), that helps UK businesses enter the Japanese market.
DIT also promotes cooperation through other non-governmental organisations that operate in Japan including the British Chamber of Commerce and the Japan British Market Council as well as JETRO (Japan External Trade Organisation).
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 8.83 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 in which the challenges for small and medium sized enterprises in the use of electronic commerce has been discussed.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK and Japan held their first Committee on Trade in Services, Investment Liberalisation and Electronic Commerce under the UK-Japan Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between officials on 1st November 2021. The UK and Japan discussed mutually beneficial cooperation to promote digitalisation including through e-government and applications being accepted in electronic format, which is of particular relevance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We will continue to consider challenges for SMEs moving forward.
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 14.80 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the impact of the (a) exchange of information, (b) sharing of experiences and skills and (c) any other form of cooperation or activities regarding intellectual property issues relevant to small and medium sized enterprises that has taken place between the UK and Japan since that agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK and Japan are working well together to implement the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. The UK and Japan held their first Committee on Intellectual Property on 28 October 2022. The UK and Japan provided updates on relevant work on their respective domestic intellectual property regulations, this included Japan’s revisions to its Copyright Act and the UK’s Counter Infringement Strategy. The UK continues to engage with Japan regularly on matters relating to intellectual property.
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 effectiveness of the work of her Department in reducing 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
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 8.82 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the steps taken by her Department to identify ways to expand access to and use of public government information for (a) all businesses and (b) small and medium sized enterprises since that agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK values our cooperation and close work with Japan to implement this UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) successfully. The CEPA Open Government Data provisions encourage the publication of appropriate government datasets in an accessible format. These provisions are particularly beneficial to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as they can gain access to accurate and reliable datasets without having to collect the information themselves, which can be costly.
The Department for International Trade has committed to publishing a comprehensive evaluation report for the UK-Japan CEPA within five years of the agreement entering into force. This evaluation will cover a broad range of impacts, including the impact on 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 8.82 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the steps taken by the Japanese Government to identify ways to expand access to and use of public government information for (a) all businesses and (b) small and medium sized enterprises since that agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK values our cooperation and close work with Japan to implement this UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) successfully. The CEPA Open Government Data provisions encourage the publication of appropriate government datasets in an accessible format. These provisions are particularly beneficial to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as they can gain access to accurate and reliable datasets without having to collect the information themselves, which can be costly.
The Department for International Trade has committed to publishing a comprehensive evaluation report for the UK-Japan CEPA within five years of the agreement entering into force. This evaluation will cover a broad range of impacts, including the impact on 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 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
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
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
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
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.