Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Government's Open Doors campaign to increasing British food and drink exports.
Answered by Marcus Fysh
The Open Doors campaign formed a key part of our work to help UK agriculture food and drink businesses seize new export opportunities. The programme of educational masterclass and mentoring programmes engaged over 100 food producers. The campaign highlighted the help available to companies from government and the wider industry network.
We continue to support agriculture food and drink exports through Department for International Trade (DIT) services such as the Export Support Service, the Export Academy, UK Export Finance, our International Trade Advisers across England and DIT teams in all parts of the UK.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders in the East Midlands, including Bosworth, to help ensure that the region can make use of potential opportunities through the trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand.
Answered by Conor Burns
Dedicated officials in the East Midlands regularly discuss the opportunities free trade agreements (FTAs) present with Local Enterprise Partnerships, Business Representative Organisations, and local Chambers of Commerce.
We also consult stakeholders through ‘town hall’ style briefings, roundtables, webinars and bilateral & group engagements. For example, we held an update for stakeholders on the UK-Australia FTA in December 2021, and a further update on the UK–New Zealand FTA in February 2022.
Throughout negotiations, the department consulted various stakeholder groups and will continue to do so to ensure that citizens and businesses across the East Midlands take advantage of our first two from-scratch FTAs.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of engagement between her Department and companies in (a) Bosworth and (b) Leicestershire on securing potential opportunities through the trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand.
Answered by Conor Burns
We remain committed to listening to a wide range of voices to ensure our trade policy delivers for the whole of the UK, including businesses in the East Midlands.
To deliver this we have established an extensive stakeholder engagement framework consisting of various mechanisms to allow business and civil society stakeholders the opportunity to feed into our trade policy.
We continually look at our structures and speak to our stakeholders, including businesses in the East Midlands, to ensure our consultation approach remains fit for purpose, informs our negotiating position, and helps to deliver trade deals that benefit the whole country.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to (a) profile and (b) promote the UK hospitality sector as part of Government initiatives to encourage international trade such as the GREAT campaign.
Answered by Mike Freer
The GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland campaign provides global brand recognition to support the promotion of the UK’s strengths around the world. Earlier this month, through the GREAT campaign, the Department for International Trade supported the hospitality, and wider UK food and drink sector, at the Gulfood trade show in Dubai as well as at Dubai Expo. Additionally, the national tourism agency VisitBritain recently launched its new £10 million international GREAT Britain marketing campaign ‘Welcome to Another Side of Britain’ to drive inbound tourism, with the aim of further supporting the hospitality industry.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to increase (a) international and (b) domestic consumer awareness of non-food and drink products made in Britain.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for International Trade (DIT) is responsible for promotion of UK products in international markets. Some of the measures this department is taking to boost exports of non-food and drink products made in the UK are: trade promotion campaigns in key markets; UK presence at tradeshows; leveraging DIT’s teams in 110 countries; providing finance and insurance from UK Export Finance; global promotion via the GREAT campaign; export hubs in all Nations; and working in partnership with UK companies and trade associations.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to build (a) international and (b) domestic consumer awareness of non-food and drink products made in the UK.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for International Trade (DIT) is responsible for promotion of UK products in international markets. Some of the measures this department is taking to boost exports of non-food and drink products made in the UK are: trade promotion campaigns in key markets; UK presence at tradeshows; leveraging DIT’s teams in 110 countries; providing finance and insurance from UK Export Finance; global promotion via the GREAT campaign; export hubs in all Nations; and working in partnership with UK companies and trade associations.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she is making to secure a free trade agreement with Canada.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) was signed on 9 December 2020 and completed Constitutional Reform and Governance (CRaG) in Parliament on 3 February 2021. Once ratified in Canada, the TCA will lock in preferential trade in goods and services worth £23 billion in 2019. We also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Canada on 21 December 2020 ensuring continued preferential goods trade pending full ratification. The TCA sets out a clear path to begin negotiating a new, more ambitious trade deal, which will be tailored to the British economy and interests. The Department is currently preparing for these talks with a view to beginning negotiations later in the year.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions she has had on a future trade deal with her (a) Australian, (b) Canadian and (c) New Zealand counterparts.
Answered by Greg Hands
Strengthening and enhancing our bilateral trading relationships with Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, are key priorities for the Government’s trade negotiations programme.
The Department for International Trade is committed to negotiating and securing ambitious free trade deals with Australia and New Zealand as soon as possible, harnessing the opportunity to negotiate a high-quality agreement with like-minded, liberal trading nations. Officials have just closed the second round of negotiations with Australia, with the third expected to take place in November, and they will open the second round of negotiations with New Zealand on 19th October.
Similarly, both the United Kingdom and Canada agree on the importance of protecting and strengthening our trading relationship, now that we have left the European Union. Our shared goal with the Government of Canada is a seamless transition of our trading relationship beyond 1st January 2020, so that British and Canadian businesses and consumers can continue to benefit. Officials have been in regular contact to discuss this since trade talks recommenced in August, with technical discussions taking place on a rolling basis.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of using digital platforms to progress trade negotiations during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Greg Hands
This Government aims to agree Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with countries accounting for 80% of current UK trade within the next three years.
We have used digital platforms to launch our negotiation programme with the priority countries of the USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. These negotiations are now proceeding at pace on a remote basis mirroring the long-established structures for engagement on trade.