Roger Williams
Main Page: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)Department Debates - View all Roger Williams's debates with the Department for Education
(12 years, 9 months ago)
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Roger Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire) (LD)
In these difficult times, the food and drink sector is an example of success with year-on-year growth. I commend the report by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and UK Trade and Investment entitled “Driving Export Growth in the Farming, Food and Drink Sector”, but trade barriers still exist. Will the Secretary of State ensure that such trade barriers are broken down so that this sector can go from strength to strength?
Vince Cable
My colleague is right to stress the importance of the food sector, including food manufacturing. We often talk about advanced manufacturing, but some of the most sophisticated industries are often in those traditional product areas. He is right about the importance of opening barriers. In the European Union context, my team is actively pursuing trade liberalisation with a variety of Asian countries, the Mercosur countries and others. We hope that those agreements will be delivered soon.