Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent progress her Department has made on connecting innovation ecosystems under the Japan-UK Strategic Economic Policy and Trade Dialogue; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Supported by the Strategic Economic Policy and Trade Dialogue, there is significant work underway across a number of departments and agencies in the UK and Japan to connect our respective innovation ecosystems. This includes organising pitch events, business matching sessions, information exchanges and supporting delegations of innovative start-ups to visit our respective markets. We are also working with external partners. In June, my department announced a new contract awarded to Oxfordshire-based Intralink to run the new UK-Asia Pacific Tech Growth Programme as part of the UK’s Digital Trade Network (DTN). This will help UK tech companies and entrepreneurs to trade across Asia Pacific, with Japan a key market.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to increase levels of meat and poultry exports.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To support delivery of the Government’s Export Strategy the Prime Minister recently announced a food and drink export package to boost export capability and deliver on growing demand for our high-quality UK produce across the world. This included a further expansion of our global agrifood and drink counsellor network who negotiate removal of trade barriers in growing global markets. Within the last year we have successfully secured access for lamb to the USA and apples to India. The export package also included a £2m boost to promotional activity such as trade shows and missions that help drive demand for UK products alongside the GREAT food and drink campaign.
To further support food producers export, we have held a range of National and Regional food summits with dedicated SME workshops to highlight export opportunities and build capability.
Supporting this increased investment in exports we have an ambitious programme of negotiations for free trade agreements which is delivering results. On 31 May the UK’s first new free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand came into force, opening markets for UK producers across all products. On 31 March, the Government substantially concluded negotiations on the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a free trade agreement (FTA) including 11 members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. This trade deal will see new export opportunities for food producers including exporters of meat and poultry.
We work closely with a wide range of industry representative partners to identify and prioritise barrier removal, and to seize opportunities to streamline the export process for animals and animal products. Alongside opening new market opportunities, we are also increasing resilience and mitigating risks to existing trade. This is particularly the case with poultry where we are working with trade partners to agree regionalisation agreements to allow trade from unaffected regions to continue in the context of Avian Influenza outbreaks.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support food producers from (a) Essex and (b) the UK to increase exports of produce.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are delivering our commitment to boost UK exports, as part of the Government’s ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’ export strategy, a 12-point plan to help UK businesses hit £1 trillion in exports. We want people at home and abroad to be lining up to buy British.
We have an ambitious programme of negotiations for free trade agreements (FTAs) which is delivering results. On 31 May the UK’s first new FTAs with Australia and New Zealand came into force, opening up markets for UK producers across all products. On 31 March the Government substantially concluded negotiations on the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, an FTA including 11 members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. This trade deal will see new export opportunities for food producers including for exporters of dairy products, including cheese and butter, having greater access to lower tariffs in Canada, Japan, and Mexico, and exporters of chocolate will benefit from zero tariffs on exports to Mexico and Malaysia.
The Prime Minister recently announced a food and drink export package to boost export capability and deliver on growing demand for our high-quality UK produce across the world. This includes a further expansion of our global agrifood and drink counsellor network who negotiate removal of trade barriers in growing global markets. The package also includes investments of £2 million in global trade shows and missions, promotion through the £1.6 million GREAT food and drink campaign, and bespoke support for seafood (£1 million) and dairy exports (£1 million).
To further support food producers export, we have held a range of national and regional food summits with dedicated SME workshops to highlight export opportunities and how to access support.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether exemptions from the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism were sought by Government during accession negotiations to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) with all member states.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership’s (CPTPP’s) investment chapter includes investor protections that are backed by a modern and transparent investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism. These commitments guarantee the treatment investors will receive when accessing and operating in CPTPP markets and provides an independent form of legal redress should investors not receive such treatment.
The UK already has investment agreements containing ISDS provisions with seven of the eleven CPTPP countries: Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Having ISDS provisions in a treaty is not new for the UK with the majority of CPTPP countries.
In light of the investment relationship the UK has with Australia and New Zealand, we have agreed to disapply the ISDS provisions in CPTPP between our countries.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of free trade agreements in improving gender equality in global supply chains.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to advancing women’s economic empowerment in the UK and around the world. We are using our free trade agreements to break down barriers and create new opportunities for women as business owners, entrepreneurs, and workers. We have already secured dedicated Chapters to this effect with Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Through our market access work, the Department for Business and Trade is supporting British businesses to build more diverse and resilient supply chains which will be crucial in tackling challenges both today and in the future.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill on provisions in the UK–Japan free trade agreement on the obligations arising from International Labour Organisation membership.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK signed the UK–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on 23 October 2020. The Government is committed to upholding labour commitments in the CEPA.
We are committed to enhancing labour standards globally, for example by leading the way in negotiating the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention. We were the third country in Europe to ratify the convention in March 2022.
We are confident that the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill is compatible with our international obligations. Many member states of the ILO have minimum service levels covering a range of key services.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps she has taken to include the mutual recognition of pharmaceutical products in trade agreement negotiations.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK has secured a number of Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) on Good Manufacturing Practices for pharmaceutical products in recent years. They comprise standalone MRAs with the US, Australia and New Zealand, with similar commitments contained in our Free Trade Agreements with Japan, Switzerland, Israel and Canada. New Free Trade Agreement negotiations are ongoing with Israel and Canada.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how often her Department plans to conduct ex-post evaluations of the implementation of new free trade agreements.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government has committed to publishing evaluations of each of the UK-Japan, UK-Australia and UK-New Zealand agreements, within 5 years of each agreement’s entry into force.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2023 to Question 112041 on Trade Agreements: Japan, if he will publish details of the 15 working groups, committees and dialogues provided for.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for International Trade has already published details from a number of working groups, committees and dialogues established by the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. We endeavour to publish minutes where possible and, once completed and agreed with Japan, they are uploaded to the following site: www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-japan-cepa-documents. For the UK-Japan Financial regulatory forum further details can also be found on gov.uk: www.gov.uk/government/publications/inaugural-uk-japan-financial-regulatory-forum.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2022 to Question 104087 on Trade Agreements: Japan, on which dates the UK-Japan Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development has met since the UK-Japan Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK-Japan Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) has so far been convened twice. It was held first on the 13th October 2021 and secondly, on the 1st December 2022.