Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many trade missions were undertaken by ministers in 2017; and what was the destination of each mission.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
The Department for International Trade undertook 139 trade missions outside of the United Kingdom in 2017, in 43 countries as follows:
Australia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, India, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam, and Zambia.
Of these missions, eight were supported by the Department’s Ministers, in eight countries as follows:
Ethiopia, Uganda (Secretary of State for International Trade, Rt Hon Liam Fox)
China (Minister of State for Trade & Export Promotion, Baroness Fairhead)
Spain, United States (Minister of State for Trade Policy, Rt. Hon Greg Hands)
France, Germany, India (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Investment, Mark Garnier)
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Government's strategy is for increasing education exports by 2020.
Answered by Mark Garnier
The Department for International Trade's education team work together with the Devolved Administrations, other government departments, our Trade Envoys, Business Ambassadors, our embassies and consulates around the world. They seek out new export opportunities and support the UK education supply chain through actively making representations to overseas buyers and governments, organising key meetings and missions showcasing UK products. Particular campaigns are focussed on China, Hong Kong, the Middle East, ASEAN and Latin America. UK Export Finance, the UK's export credit agency, offers finance and insurance to help UK-based companies of all sizes and across all sectors (including the education sector) win, fulfil and get paid for overseas sales.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to support and develop the export potential of UK dairy through the Dairy Exports Strategy.
Answered by George Eustice
There is great global demand for quality British dairy products and we are working to maximise this opportunity by opening up new markets around the world. Eight dairy companies accompanied the Secretary of State on a trade mission to China in November, and next month a Chinese dairy delegation is visiting to discuss opportunities for investment in our domestic industry.
Further trade missions are planned over the coming months to the US, Japan and China. Together with UKTI we will continue to promote our fantastic British dairy brand.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is being done to support British pig farmers who are affected by Russia’s ban on European food imports and cheap imports into the UK.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
I recognise that many UK pig producers are struggling with a very tough period of low prices. The Government is providing support through our reforms to tax averaging. We also supported the activation of private storage aid on 4 January to remove pigmeat temporarily from the EU market.
We are working with the industry to open up new market opportunities at home and abroad. China offers huge potential for the future of the food and farming industry. Since 2010, British food and drink exports to China have more than doubled to £280 million, the fastest-growing of which are dairy products, pork, beer and tea. 2016 will be the Year of GREAT British Food, opening a long-term campaign of trade missions and events in the UK that showcase British products and help farm businesses to grow and thrive.
Defra secured a deal in principle for trade in trotters during the Secretary of State's recent visit to China and the underpinning detailed arrangements are being finalised.
Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) UK embassies, and (2) UK consular offices, have been closed since 6 May 2010, and where those closures took place.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), has not closed any Embassies over this period. Operations were suspended in Tehran, Damascus, Tripoli and Sana’a for security reasons. Tehran re-opened in August 2015.
The FCO currently has 268 posts (Embassies, Consulates-General, Consulates, Multilateral Missions and Trade and Investment Offices – Consular Offices are not classed as posts) worldwide. Since 2010 we have opened nine posts: in Juba (South Sudan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), San Salvador (El Salvador), Seattle (USA), Vientiane (Laos), Mogadishu (Somalia), Port au Prince (Haiti), Asuncion (Paraguay) and Wuhan (China). We have also upgraded eight posts: in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Antananarivo (Madagascar), Calgary (Canada), Monrovia (Liberia), Recife (Brazil), Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad (India).
Since 2010, we have closed the following Consulates and Consular Offices in Europe and elsewhere:
2010: One: Consulate-General Geneva, Switzerland
2011: Three: Consulate-General Lille, France; Consulate-General Venice, Italy; Consulate Florence, Italy
2012: Three: Consulate-General Basra, Iraq; Consulate Funchal, Portugal; Consular Office Oporto, Portugal
2013: Four: Consulate Pattaya, Thailand; Consular Office, Thessaloniki, Greece; Consular Office, Andorra; Consular Office Willemstad, Curaçao
2014: Two: Consular Offices in Cali and Cartagena, Colombia. The FCO also withdrew its Provincial Reconstruction Team from Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan
2015: Two: Consulate Chiang Mai, Thailand; Consular Office Bodrum, Turkey.
The FCO downgraded the following Consulates-General and Consulates to Trade and Investment Offices since 2010:
2012: Two: Consulate-General Lyon, France; Consulate Naples, Italy
2014: One: Consulate Bilbao, Spain.
Since 2010, we have developed new technology and new ways of working that has enabled us to deliver services differently in some areas. We now have three Consular Contact Centres that take calls from all consular customers, and are able to support around 80 per cent of those calling without further escalation to post, helping to ensure that Consular staff in-country are able to focus their time on those most in need of help. Some services have also been centralised, with customers able to access them by post, and increasingly through digital channels.
Asked by: Robin Walker (Conservative - Worcester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support exchanges and trade missions between the UK and China.
Answered by Lord Swire
This Government is committed to building upon our record levels of exports to, and inward investment from, China.
We are doubling the resources of UK Trade and Investment China to make it their biggest operation globally. This will enable more exchanges and trade missions like the recent Shanghai GREAT Festival of Creativity.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support UK Trade and Investment has given to (a) the Nuclear Industry Association and (b) private nuclear companies to participate in trade missions it organised or supported in the last five years.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The data below details the support given since the establishment of the UKTI Events and Missions Team in 2012; to gather information from further back would incur disproportionate costs.
Since 2012 UKTI has supported, 74 unique private nuclear companies on nine outward trade missions at a total cost of £63,500. The details are:
2012
April- nuclear decommissioning to Japan
November- nuclear decommissioning and waste management to Korea
November- nuclear decommissioning and waste management to Japan
2013
October-general nuclear mission-Korea
2014
January-mission to Korea Atomic Industrial Forum January-mission to UK-China Civil Nuclear July-mission to Nuclear Dialogue-Japan September-mission to Radiex-Japan
2015
November-mission to Taiwan
The NIA has participated in three events, Japan in April 2012; Korea in November 2012 and UK-China in January 2014.
Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's (MCA) annual budget was for promoting the UK Shipping Register internationally to encourage ship owners to register their ships in the UK in each year since 2009-10; and what the MCA's budget is for such work in 2015-16.
Answered by John Hayes
The table below shows the overseas visits made by officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to promote the UK Shipping Register (UKSR) to ship owners since 2009-10. It also shows the cost per year for these trips and the MCA’s planned expenditure for promoting the UKSR.
The expenditure in 2013 -14 was higher than originally planned because of the decision to raise the profile of the UKSR in international markets, in particular China and the Far East. This included attendance by UKSR officials at shipping industry and ship building trade shows, and also official receptions for shipping industry leaders at UK missions overseas.
Ministers attended the events in Athens in June 2012 and 2013, and Singapore in February 2014 with the MCA. Those attendances were part of a wider programme of events involving shipping and transport in general. Costing the element involved in the promotion of the UK Shipping register is not possible.
2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | |
April
| Thailand and Germany | Singapore and India | |||
May
| Oslo | Vietnam | |||
June
| Oslo | Athens | Germany | Athens | Oslo and Athens |
July
| |||||
August
| Germany | ||||
September
| Germany | Germany | Germany | ||
October
| India | ||||
November | Rotterdam | Shanghai | Athens and Singapore | ||
December
| Shanghai | Hong Kong | Shanghai | ||
January
| |||||
February | Tokyo and Copenhagen | Singapore and Germany | |||
March
| Germany | ||||
PLANNED EXPENDITURE
| £44,500 | £32,400 | £25,000 | £21,739 | £19,284 |
TOTAL SPEND
| £16,048.57 | £5,082.48 | £26,040.48 | £19,083.68 | £40,272.52 |
Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many overseas visit trips (a) Ministers, (b) officials in his Department and (c) officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency have undertaken in each year since 2009-10 to promote the UK Shipping Register to ship owners; and what the (i) destination and (ii) cost was of each such trip.
Answered by John Hayes
The table below shows the overseas visits made by officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to promote the UK Shipping Register (UKSR) to ship owners since 2009-10. It also shows the cost per year for these trips and the MCA’s planned expenditure for promoting the UKSR.
The expenditure in 2013 -14 was higher than originally planned because of the decision to raise the profile of the UKSR in international markets, in particular China and the Far East. This included attendance by UKSR officials at shipping industry and ship building trade shows, and also official receptions for shipping industry leaders at UK missions overseas.
Ministers attended the events in Athens in June 2012 and 2013, and Singapore in February 2014 with the MCA. Those attendances were part of a wider programme of events involving shipping and transport in general. Costing the element involved in the promotion of the UK Shipping register is not possible.
2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | |
April
| Thailand and Germany | Singapore and India | |||
May
| Oslo | Vietnam | |||
June
| Oslo | Athens | Germany | Athens | Oslo and Athens |
July
| |||||
August
| Germany | ||||
September
| Germany | Germany | Germany | ||
October
| India | ||||
November | Rotterdam | Shanghai | Athens and Singapore | ||
December
| Shanghai | Hong Kong | Shanghai | ||
January
| |||||
February | Tokyo and Copenhagen | Singapore and Germany | |||
March
| Germany | ||||
PLANNED EXPENDITURE
| £44,500 | £32,400 | £25,000 | £21,739 | £19,284 |
TOTAL SPEND
| £16,048.57 | £5,082.48 | £26,040.48 | £19,083.68 | £40,272.52 |
Asked by: Lord Lee of Trafford (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they are expecting to announce the interim measures to improve the retail export scheme.
Answered by Lord Livingston of Parkhead
The Government launched the Retail Industry International Action Plan in March 2013. The plan has two main elements which aims to deliver £500 million of value to the UK economy and assist 1,000 UK companies:
1. We are assisting UK retailers to grow internationally through global campaigns in high growth markets such as China, India, the ASEAN markets and Emerging Europe. The work has included taking 250 companies to new markets through high level trade missions and we anticipate taking another 150 during this financial year. We are supporting UK retailers to participate in activities overseas, such as the World Retail Congress series of events, and targeting UK consumer goods exporters/retailers at trade shows in the UK to offer export assistance.
2. HMG are committed to deliver support to UK consumer goods exporters/retailers seeking to grow globally through online channels. As part of this programme UKTI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TMall (part of the Alibaba Group) to help UK companies sell via China's largest internet retailer. We are now in the process of negotiating MoUs with a number of leading platforms across the globe. We will be officially launching the e-Exporting programme in Autumn 2014. We are recruiting Digital Specialists who will work with UKTI's International Trade Advisors to bring the skills UK companies require to succeed in this fast growing area of commerce.