Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the effect on pedestrian and cyclist safety of the differences in vehicle safety standards between vehicles produced in (a) the USA and (b) the EU; and what safety standard vehicles will have to meet for import to the UK after the transition period.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department has considered the differences in the technical standards designed to provide protection for both vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, and vehicle occupants in the USA and UK.
In the UK, new passenger cars and light goods vehicles must meet minimum levels of protection for pedestrian leg and head impacts.
Vehicles operating on British roads must adhere to British safety standards.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in (a) the US and (b) Australia on vehicle safety standards during negotiations on free trade agreements.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Both Britain and Australia are signatories of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) 1958 agreement. This allows automotive manufacturers to export to the Australian market with relative ease, as type approval certificates issued in the UK are accepted by Australia without the need for additional testing.
With the US, negotiators are seeking to reduce technical barriers to trade by removing and preventing trade-restrictive measures in goods markets overall, while upholding the safety and quality of all products on the British market and promoting the use of international standards, to further facilitate trade between the parties. Britain hopes to reduce regulatory obstacles faced when exporting to the US, facilitate market access for British businesses and investors, and improve trade flows by ensuring a transparent, predictable, and stable regulatory framework to give confidence and stability to British exporting businesses and investors.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress has been made in negotiations on free trade agreements covering the automotive sector with (a) the US and (b) Australia.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The third UK-U.S. Free Trade Agreement negotiating round took place from 27 July to 7 August 2020. Positive progress continues to be made.
Further talks will be held between the third and fourth negotiating round, which is expected to take place in early September.
Trade negotiators from the UK and Australia held the first round of negotiations for a UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement from 29 June to 10 July 2020, through virtual means.
Discussions between negotiators were productive and reflected our shared ambition to secure a comprehensive deal to boost trade and investment between our like-minded economies.
Teams discussed their respective objectives and agreed a forward plan for future talks. Our positive discussions in round one have laid the groundwork for the UK and Australia to achieve high-quality outcomes across the agreement.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will take steps to ensure that vehicles that do not meet current UK vehicle safety standards would not be permitted to be (a) sold and (b) registered in the UK as a result of an international free trade agreement.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Vehicles that do not meet British regulations are not permitted to use British roads. There are no plans to change this.