Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether their Department has purchased mobile UV virus irradiation units.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department has not purchased any mobile UV virus irradiation units.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will make it her policy to implement the 21 recommendations in the first annual report from the UK Trade and Business Commission.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
HM Government is getting on with the job, setting up engagement mechanisms to make sure the United Kingdom’s position is well-informed and reflects the interests of the British people. These engagement mechanisms include the Ministerially-chaired Strategic Trade Advisory Group (STAG), eleven sector-specific Trade Advisory Groups (TAGs), and ten cross-government Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) currently.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when she plans for the new Trade and Agriculture Commission to be established.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On 7 June, the Department launched a call for expressions of interest for expert advisors to join the new Trade and Agriculture Commission. The Commission will be established in time to scrutinise the planned Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Australia, to inform parliamentary scrutiny following signature. It will also scrutinise other planned FTAs.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what her planned timescale is for concluding a trade deal with Serbia.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
A trade deal has been on offer to Serbia for a number of years. Rapid progress has been made since 1st January and it was signed on Friday 16th April.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate she has made of the cost to the UK frozen food industry of tariffs applied to frozen fruit imported from Serbia as a result of the UK not yet having a trade deal with that country.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The United Kingdom has been trading on Most Favoured Nation (MNF) terms with Serbia since the 1st January 2021. Prior to this imports of frozen fruit from Serbia had been eligible for tariff free access to the UK.
Overseas trade data is only available for the first two months of 2021, but the UK has imported approximately £350,000 of frozen fruits from Serbia in this period. Estimated additional duties paid on these imports are approximately £40,000.
Signature of the UK-Serbia continuity agreement is expected imminently, which would remove future MFN duties on imports of frozen fruit from Serbia.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September to Question 78468 on Mozambique: Liquefied Natural Gas, what assessment he has made of when his Department will be able to conclude whether the Mozambique gas project funded by UKEF has resulted in lower emissions.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK Export Finance (UKEF) concluded its climate change review of the Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project (“the Project”), which considered its potential operational Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, in 2020.
The review concludes that the Project has used the best available technology to minimise emissions where possible, and these reductions are a result of optimisations to the Project’s Front-End Engineering and Design. As energy is to be generated on site (Scope 1), no Scope 2 emissions are expected from purchased electricity.
The Project’s Scope 3 emissions are produced predominantly by the use of the Project’s LNG.
The Project will report annually on its Scope 1 and 2 emissions once it is operational. UKEF will monitor the Project’s environmental, social, and human rights, including its annual reporting on emissions.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of (a) what additional data may flow and (b) what existing data restrictions may be lifted as a result of Article 8.84 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) ensures that data can flow between the countries while maintaining high data protection standards. The deal does not mandate that data must flow, but rather the provisions clear the way for the flow of data between both countries for business purposes; when data needs to flow across a border it can do so without coming up against unjustified barriers. CEPA does not interfere with the high level of protection afforded to personal data when it is transferred out of the UK under the UK's data protections laws.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential for trade disputes on data flows to arise from Article 14.11 of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are confident that the UK would be able to uphold its commitments for Article 14.11 under the Electronic Commerce chapter of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) if the UK is successful in acceding to this agreement.
Article 14.11 of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership includes an exception to cross-border data flows for the purpose of achieving a legitimate public policy objective. This provides sufficient policy flexibility for the UK to act in future in our national interest and ensure continued high levels of personal data protection.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans she has to enable UK companies to bid for defence and security contracts with (a) EU member states and (b) companies based in EU member states after the transition period.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is waiting for the EU-UK future trading relationship negotiations to conclude before setting out plans regarding the facilitation of defence and security contracts with EU member states or companies indigenous to those jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, defence and security exporters will continue to be supported by UK Defence and Security Exports within DIT, as they are now.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she will extend the tradeshow access programme funding to domestic events during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 29 September 2020 to Question UIN: 93683.