Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
Her Majesty's Government how many officials with substantial experience of international trade negotiations have been appointed to the Department for International Trade.
Answered by Lord Price
The Department for International Trade has a strong and capable trade policy team which has grown significantly since June 2016 (from 45 to over 300 today), and is continuing to grow.
We continue to hire the brightest and best talent from within the UK civil service and externally, in order to build a world class trade policy team that can deliver the best outcomes for the UK.
At this stage, the Department’s primary focus is on developing our trade policy positions, international relationships and approach to future trade negotiations to ensure we are in the best position to agree trade deals once we exit the EU.
The Department has recently appointed Crawford Falconer to the role of Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser and Head of Trade Profession. Mr Falconer brings a wealth of global trade expertise from over 25 years of working on trade policy in the New Zealand government, the World Trade Organization and academia.