Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to include supply chain security agreements for (a) medicines, (b) food, (c) gas and (d) other essential goods in future trade deals.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Free trade and free markets will be crucial to the global economic recovery as the coronavirus crisis passes, and more resilient supply chains in the future.
Our ambitious programme of free trade agreements will be an important part of the United Kingdom’s post-COVID economic strategy, making it easier for businesses to access goods, services, and capital to fuel economic recovery, and growth.
Our work with other departments and with business to strengthen critical supply chains seeks to improve the United Kingdom’s security and economic resilience through international trade. Our starting position when seeking to build resilience in critical supply chains is to take a market-first approach.