(8 months, 3 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberI thank my hon. Friend for his report and letter to me all about that. I am pleased with the high-level meetings he had on his recent visit and a lot of the media coverage. Our embassy is following up by preparing for the Zimbabwe international trade fair in April, and it is expecting a strong UK presence. My hon. Friend’s return visit in April will be a perfect chance to progress the deals that we have and boost British investment for this year and beyond.
The Government are committed to pursuing environmental provisions in our trade agreements and to using our multilateral trade policy, diplomatic efforts and trade promotion activity, all of which support our green objectives.
The Government boast about the trade deals they have done and the environmental protections they have secured, so presumably they have had the chance to analyse the impact. Will the Minister tell the House whether the deals secured so far have improved or degraded our environment? What lessons have been learned for negotiating future deals?
The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. Many of the agreements have actually, for the first time, included environmental provisions. If I recall correctly, he did not like the Australia trade deal, but it is the first time Australia has committed in a trade agreement to the Paris agreement and so on. When it comes to the impact of our trading policy over the last 14 years, he will also find, for example, that 86% of UK imports of palm oil—a key interest for environmentalists—are certified as sustainable, up from 16% in 2010. Again, we are seeing real results of UK trade policy moving in a much more environmentally friendly direction.
(10 months ago)
Commons ChamberThe Government are committed to breaking down barriers to trade through our ambitious programme of free trade agreements. In August last year, the Government announced the border target operating model, which will simplify border processes for both imports and exports. These changes, based on smarter use of data and technology, will put in place new security and biosecurity controls while ensuring they are as simple as possible for businesses to comply with.
The five-times-delayed border checks will come into effect very soon, but those dealing with plant and animal health products are seriously worried about potential delays. Indeed, the chair of the Horticultural Trades Association has pointed out that the process of importing a petunia from the Netherlands has already increased from 19 to 59 steps, and he warns that the
“new border is a disaster waiting to happen”.
What is the Minister doing to ensure that we will have a plentiful supply of imported red roses for Valentine’s day, especially for all those Conservatives on the other side who love each other so much?
I am feeling the hon. Gentleman’s love this morning, Mr Speaker.
We have consulted very widely on the border target operating model. We have put in a lot of time and effort, we have done a lot of consultation, we have been running webinars and putting out leaflets to make sure that businesses are aware, and the introduction of the model will of course be staged.
The hon. Gentleman needs to be careful about what Labour’s plan will be. This week, the EU ambassador to London revealed the fact that Labour’s desire for a food and veterinary agreement is likely to lead to closer dynamic alignment between London and Brussels in the future, which is directly against his party leader’s stated policy of no dynamic alignment.
(12 months ago)
Commons ChamberOf course, the hon. Gentleman and I have been around in these jobs for a while. He was possibly the last Trade Minister under the last Labour Government, so I will not be taking any lectures from him on how to improve UK exports. We have been financing dozens of global trade missions and we are spending £200 million over the spending review period on exports in general. On the export figures, he neglected to mention services exports, which totalled £463 billion in the 12 months to September 2023. That is a huge increase of 42% on our performance in 2018, before Brexit.
(8 years ago)
Commons ChamberI commend my hon. Friend for his engagement with Argentina under its new Government, which he and I have discussed. As the Prime Minister has said, we will seek to be the global leader in free trade. While we remain a member of the EU, the UK will continue to press for and support an ambitious EU trade agenda, including its negotiations with the Mercosur bloc.
The Minister repeated the mantra that he wants the best possible deal for the life sciences sector, but does he agree with industry leaders that we need to be part of a European-wide regulatory system? A simple yes or no will suffice.