Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans his Department has to develop a trade deal with Jamaica.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Until we have left the EU, the UK will remain a member of the EU with all of the rights and obligations that membership entails.
In due course, Britain will be leaving the EU. This offers us an opportunity to forge a new role for ourselves in the world: to negotiate, in time, our own trade agreements, including with developing countries, and to be a positive and powerful force for free trade. The Prime Minister has established the Department for International Trade to promote British trade across the world and ensure the UK takes advantage of the huge opportunities open to us. The Government is currently reviewing its trade policy. We will engage fully with a broad range of stakeholders, including both governments and business over the coming weeks and months as we prepare for the negotiation with the EU and other international partners.