Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made on securing a free trade agreement with Algeria.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
In under two years, and as of 15th December, we have agreed trade deals with 58 countries that accounted for £198 billion of bilateral trade in 2019. We have always been clear that we will not do a deal that is not in the British national interest, whatever the deadline.
Whilst we have had some robust discussions in that spirit, leading to a mutually beneficial agreement in most cases, this has not been the case for all countries. Further, it has not always been possible to engage with partners due to their elections and delays in forming their governments. As a result, we have announced that agreements with Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Algeria – as well as, seeking to be open with my Hon. Friend, Montenegro – will not be in force on 1st January 2021.
However, they are all valued partners on a range of economic and security issues and we remain willing and committed to concluding agreements with them as soon as possible.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made on securing a free trade agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
In under two years, and as of 15th December, we have agreed trade deals with 58 countries that accounted for £198 billion of bilateral trade in 2019. We have always been clear that we will not do a deal that is not in the British national interest, whatever the deadline.
Whilst we have had some robust discussions in that spirit, leading to a mutually beneficial agreement in most cases, this has not been the case for all countries. Further, it has not always been possible to engage with partners due to their elections and delays in forming their governments. As a result, we have announced that agreements with Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Algeria – as well as, seeking to be open with my Hon. Friend, Montenegro – will not be in force on 1st January 2021.
However, they are all valued partners on a range of economic and security issues and we remain willing and committed to concluding agreements with them as soon as possible.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made on securing a free trade agreement with Serbia.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
In under two years, and as of 15th December, we have agreed trade deals with 58 countries that accounted for £198 billion of bilateral trade in 2019. We have always been clear that we will not do a deal that is not in the British national interest, whatever the deadline.
Whilst we have had some robust discussions in that spirit, leading to a mutually beneficial agreement in most cases, this has not been the case for all countries. Further, it has not always been possible to engage with partners due to their elections and delays in forming their governments. As a result, we have announced that agreements with Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Algeria – as well as, seeking to be open with my Hon. Friend, Montenegro – will not be in force on 1st January 2021.
However, they are all valued partners on a range of economic and security issues and we remain willing and committed to concluding agreements with them as soon as possible.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made in securing a free trade agreement with Montenegro.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
In under two years, HM Government has signed, or agreed in principle, trade agreements with 57 countries that accounted for £193 billion of bilateral trade in 2019. The negotiations behind our continuity programme are unprecedented in scale and ambition – and are helping to secure better jobs, higher wages, more choice and lower prices for the British people.
An up-to-date list of trade continuity agreements, signed and in discussion, is available on GOV.UK and our work to secure free and fair trade around the world remains a top priority for the Department.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Sugg on 2 November (HL Deb, cols 495–9), what assessment they have made of the judgment delivered by the International Court of Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro (no. 91) on 26 February 2007, in particular the statement contained in that judgment that "a State’s obligation to prevent, and the corresponding duty to act, arise at the instant that the State learns of, or should normally have learned of, the existence of a serious risk that genocide will be committed"; what assessment they have made of the risk of genocide in the Nagorno-Karabakh region; and what steps they are taking in response to that assessment.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK takes its moral and legal obligations seriously, and is fully committed to focusing on conflict prevention as the best means to prevent most mass atrocities. HMG adopts a consolidated, whole-of-government effort, using our diplomatic, development, defence and law enforcement capabilities, to help find pathways to global peace and stability. The policy of the UK is that any determination on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for competent judicial bodies, rather than for governments. The UK is fully committed to the principle that there must be no impunity for the most serious international crimes. The UK welcomes the news that the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to end the fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) value was of contracts issued, (b) which foreign governments were involved and (c) other communication services were provided by Government Communication Service International to foreign governments in the last 12 months.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Further to the information published in the Cabinet Office Annual Accounts for 2019-20, the total value of communications contracts issued by the Cabinet Office was £981,403 supporting UK security and trade objectives in Nigeria, Tunisia, Montenegro, Philippines and India. Government Communication Service International shares communication expertise and knowledge based on UK Government best practice in security, economy, health and education communications.
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, when her Department last held negotiations with the Government of Montenegro on a potential trade agreement that would take effect when existing EU trade agreements no longer apply to the UK; and at what level those negotiations were held.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
HM Government has ambitious goals for British trade; our aim is to have 80% of United Kingdom trade with countries covered by free trade agreements within the next three years, starting with the USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Work to transition EU trade agreements contributes to this ambition.
To date, the United Kingdom has signed, or agreed in principle, 21 trade agreements, with 49 countries. This includes the United Kingdom–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, which was agreed in principle on 11th September 2020. Our total trade with these countries was worth £142 billion in 2019.
We are continuing our work to replicate existing EU trade agreements with trading partners, to secure continuity for British businesses at the end of the transition period. Negotiations continue on the remaining trade continuity agreements in a way that reflects the reality of the current situation.
An up-to-date list of trade continuity agreements, signed and in discussion, is available on GOV.UK at: gov.uk/guidance/uk-trade-agreements-with-non-eu-countries
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Montenegrin counterpart on reports of sectarian violence and intimidation following the recent elections in that country.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK has publicly expressed concern about reports of violence following the recent elections in Montenegro. Our Embassy has made clear to government and opposition representatives our expectation that all political actors in Montenegro uphold democratic values, including full respect for minority rights.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with which countries the UK has deportation agreements for the return of nationals found illegally in the UK.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
To support the facilitation of removing those individuals with no right to remain in the UK, the UK has formal returns or readmission agreements with the following countries:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, China, Georgia, Hong Kong, Iraq, Macau, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Somalia, South Korea, South Sudan, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam.
There are also formal returns arrangements for third-country nationals to other European countries through the Dublin Regulations.
To all other countries to which returns are enforced, the Home Office utilises informal bilateral processes.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what use they have made of the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre's civil emergency response mechanism as a means of sourcing personal protective equipment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and whether they have made any requests for assistance to the Centre.
Answered by Lord Bethell
To date, seven allied and nine partner nations have requested international assistance through the NATO Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC). In chronological order of requesting, these are: Ukraine, Spain, Montenegro, Italy, Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Colombia, Slovenia, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Tunisia and Iraq. Many of these requests were for personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical equipment. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also asked for airlift support. The United Kingdom has not requested assistance through the EADRCC but we have responded to a small number of requests, including from Ukraine, Georgia, North Macedonia and Moldova, where PPE and medical equipment has been supplied. In these cases, equipment has been procured locally in the country concerned and within the constraints of our domestic response.
As part of the COVID-19 PPE team seconded to work with the Cabinet Office on PPE procurement, teams from Defence Equipment and Support have been using the NATO Support and Procurement Agency framework to order PPE for the National Health Service.