Continuity Trade Agreements: Parliamentary Scrutiny
Debate between Greg Hands and Simon Jupp(4 years, 1 month ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Greg Hands
It is relatively straightforward. If the agreement is made with the remaining countries and there is not the time to put it through the CRaG process before 31 December, it has the potential to be provisionally applied. The terms of that agreement will remain on 1 January in accordance with the existing EU deal going into that time, so there should be no interruption for businesses. Parliament will still have the opportunity, under the CRaG process, to give that agreement full scrutiny.
Simon Jupp (East Devon) (Con)
I commend the great work of the Minister and the Department so far in securing trade deals across the world. West country produce is already the pride of a nation and it is proudly found on shelves from Stornoway to Sidmouth. Does he agree that by continuing the great work to break down the barriers to trade, we can export the best of the south-west and promote the finest standard of produce across the world?
Greg Hands
I spent part of my childhood in the south-west, and I remember only too well the quality of its produce in the agrifood sector. We are negotiating better market access in markets such as Taiwan, China and the United States, where we have just had our first shipment of British beef this summer. We are also reducing tariffs in important areas such as the dairy sector, for example, on cheese, in some of these markets. This is part of a continuous engagement for UK agriculture.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Greg Hands and Simon Jupp(4 years, 3 months ago)
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The Minister for Trade Policy (Greg Hands)
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. It is worth reminding ourselves that he and I were both elected in December on a strong programme of no compromise on our standards on the environment, animal welfare and food safety—he and I collectively and individually. That is in the manifesto, and it has been made in repeated statements by the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for the International Trade and the whole DIT team.
Simon Jupp (East Devon) (Con)