Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many free trade agreements with non-EU countries the Department plans to have signed by the 29 March 2019.
Answered by George Hollingbery
As I am sure the Hon. Member for Cardiff Central will be aware, the UK cannot negotiate, sign or ratify trade agreements whilst we remain members of the EU.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many free trade agreements with non-EU countries the Department plans to have signed by the 29 March 2019.
Answered by George Hollingbery
As I am sure the Hon. Member for Cardiff Central will be aware, the UK cannot negotiate, sign or ratify trade agreements whilst we remain members of the EU.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a scheme of tariff-free trade for less developed countries after the UK leaves the EU similar to the Generalised Scheme of Preferences the UK currently participates in through its EU membership.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The way to end poverty is through inclusive economic growth, jobs, investment and trade. As the UK leaves the EU, we recognise the need for a smooth transition in our trading arrangements with developing countries. That is why the UK Government has introduced legislation which enables the UK to put in place a trade preference scheme. This will deliver on our commitment to maintain tariff free access to the UK for Least Developed Countries.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress has been made on the submission of agreed trade schedules with the World Trade Organisation.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
It is the Government’s intention to have our own independent World Trade Organization (WTO) schedules ahead of leaving the EU. Our transition at the WTO continues to move forward.
The appropriate legal mechanism for our goods transition remains rectification. We want to minimise disruption to existing trade and we will act in accordance with WTO rules and procedure. The joint letter we sent with the EU to the WTO membership in October 2017 provides the detail of our proposal.
On services, the UK continues to engage on the detail of our draft schedule. We are committed to retaining our existing commitments. We have also begun the process to independently accede to the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) by formally submitting a market access offer.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what proportion of the UK's trade in goods in 2017 for (a) exports (b) imports was with countries that the UK has a preferential trading relationship with due to its membership of the EU.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In 2017, UK goods exports to EU countries accounted for 48.8% of the value of total UK goods exports to the world. In 2017, UK goods exports to non-EU countries, with which the UK has a preferential trading relationship due to its membership of the EU, accounted for 12.2% of total UK goods exports to the world.
In 2017, UK goods imports from EU countries accounted for 54.8% of the value of total UK goods imports from the world. In 2017, UK goods imports from non-EU countries, with which the UK has a preferential trading relationship due to its membership of the EU, accounted for 12.6% of UK goods imports from the world.
Source: ONS Trade in goods MRETS (March 2018), UK Economic Accounts Q4 – October to December 2017 (for Canada and Switzerland) The figures referring to non-EU countries with which the UK has a preferential trading relationship excludes those countries with EU trade agreements that have not been provisionally applied yet, according to the European Commission website: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/negotiations-and-agreements/#_in-place
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, the gross value of licenced armed exports made to Israel (a) in total for and (b) in each of the last five years.
Answered by Graham Stuart
I refer the hon. Member for Cardiff Central to the answer I gave her on 23 April 2018, UIN: 136499.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the gross value of tariff free goods that the UK imported from developing countries in 2017 was.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The latest data accessed from Eurostat shows that the UK imported, tariff free, goods worth £23.2bn from developing countries in 2017. There is no single definition of developing countries. This figure includes imports from all countries that receive preferential access to the UK through the Generalised Scheme of Preference, Economic Partnership Agreements or Market Access Regulations.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he plans to take to ensure that UK trade with developing countries will promote women’s rights after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK is committed to promoting the economic empowerment of women. Therefore we supported the Declaration on Trade and Gender at the WTO Ministerial Conference in December and the Secretary of State announced the UK's ambition for gender responsive trade last week. As the UK establishes an independent trade policy, we will create a framework that delivers for female exporters and upholds gender equality. Last week the Prime Minister also announced UK support for women traders in developing countries in the Commonwealth.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many arms export licences have been refused in the past year; and what the country of destination was in each such application.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government publishes Official Statistics (on a quarterly and annual basis) of licences granted and refused for military exports on GOV.UK and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data
Currently this includes information up to 31 December 2017. Information covering 1 January to 31 March 2018 will be published in July 2018.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for International Trade currently has no non-departmental public bodies.