Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many of his Department's staff have been trained as trade negotiators by the Diplomatic Academy; and what his timescale is for that Academy achieving its goal of training 240 trade negotiators before the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Conor Burns
I refer the Hon Member for Dundee East to the answers I gave today, UIN: 5362 and 5363.
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many staff in her Department have more than (a) one (b) three and (c) five years experience in negotiating trade deals.
Answered by Conor Burns
Our people are drawn from a wide range of backgrounds and have a corresponding range of experience of international trade negotiations, trade remedies and trade defence working on EU trade negotiations such as Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and multilateral agreements in the WTO.
To build the trade policy and negotiating experience in the Department for International Trade (DIT), over the 24 months to end-March 2020, around 350 places will have been taken by people in DIT on Expert Level training in technical areas of trade policy and around a further 350 places taken on Expert Level Free Trade Agreement negotiations training.
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many trade experts have been (a) recruited and (b) trained by her Department since its establishment.
Answered by Conor Burns
The Department has a strong core of trade policy officials which has grown significantly since July 2016 (from 45 to approximately 575 currently) and is continuing to grow. Trade Policy Group is also supported by around 70 lawyers and 90 analysts.
The number of negotiators and the training they require is dependent on how many trade agreements are ongoing at any given time, the specific chapters in that negotiation and the complexity of that chapter. Negotiating teams will differ in sizes, with expertise relevant to the specific chapters of sectors.
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether there are trade working groups or equivalents with all the countries that his Department is or has been negotiating trade continuity agreements; and with which other countries there are trade working groups or equivalents.
Answered by Conor Burns
We are working with countries across the world to develop our current trade relationships and ensure that Britain becomes a global free trade leader once we leave the EU.
Working groups are one means of engagement with our trading partners. Others include informal contact through our network of Posts, discussions with embassies in London, ministerial discussions and visits, the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys, and HM Trade Commissioners.
In addition to the ongoing engagement in the Trade Agreement Continuity Programme, we have established Working Groups with the USA, Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE.
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when he plans to publish a response to his Department's public consultations on (a) Trade with the US, (b) Trade with Australia, (c) Trade with New Zealand and (d) Trade with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership which concluded on 26 October 2018.
Answered by George Hollingbery
We intend to publish a Government Response, to the four public consultations on potential future free trade agreement negotiations with the US, Australia, New Zealand and on the UK potentially seeking accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), before entering into any future trade agreement negotiations.
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has spent on (a) relocating diplomatic staff and (b) expanding or purchasing new diplomatic premises and official residences as a result of strategic changes made in light of the UK's decision to withdraw from the EU.
Answered by Alan Duncan
A number of staff across the FCO work on a range of issues including EU Exit. We continue to keep EU Exit staffing levels under constant review to ensure that they are appropriate to deliver the government's objectives.
We undertake regular reviews of our estate portfolio around the world, ensuring it is fit for purpose. No decisions on diplomatic premises in New York are influenced only by the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic staff have been installed in New York; and how much money from the public purse has been spent on new diplomatic premises and facilities in that city in light of the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
Answered by Alan Duncan
A number of staff across the FCO work on a range of issues including EU Exit. We continue to keep EU Exit staffing levels under constant review to ensure that they are appropriate to deliver the government's objectives.
We undertake regular reviews of our estate portfolio around the world, ensuring it is fit for purpose. No decisions on diplomatic premises in New York are influenced only by the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether professional services companies will continue to have a legal basis for trading with (a) third countries and (b) trading blocs that the EU currently has services agreements with excluding potential (i) tariff changes and (ii) non-tariff barriers in the event that the UK leaves the EU (A) with and (B) without a deal.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government is committed to working with third countries to provide continuity across our existing trade agreements to deliver certainty for businesses in all scenarios, including professional services companies. Some of these agreements contain services chapters. We will inform Parliament and the public when agreements have been signed and will post details of completed agreements on gov.uk.
The EU has agreed to notify third countries that, during the implementation period, the UK is to be treated as an EU member state for the purposes of international agreements, including trade agreements. This provides a basis for continuity during this period.
Should arrangements to maintain particular preferences in a no deal scenario not be in place on exit day, trade would then take place on a ‘Most-Favoured Nation’ (MFN) basis, which is sometimes referred to as ‘World Trade Organization (WTO) Terms’, until a new arrangement has been implemented.
For services, the MFN principle means WTO members are required to grant treatment to UK services and service suppliers, which is no less favourable than to services and service suppliers of any other WTO member
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what trade agreements he expects the UK to have agreed and will be in force on 29 March 2019.
Answered by George Hollingbery
As a matter of priority, the Government is working to ensure there is no disruption to the UK’s global trading relationships. Discussions with partner countries have demonstrated a commitment to finding a pragmatic way to ensure continuity of our existing international agreements.
Alongside the Withdrawal Agreement, the EU agreed to notify its treaty partners that the UK be treated as a Member State for the purposes of EU international agreements during the Implementation Period (IP). This includes trade agreements.
The Government continues to prepare for all eventualities, including a ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario, in the event of which we will seek to bring into force bilateral agreements from exit day (29 March 2019) or as soon as possible thereafter. We are making good progress and have signed continuity agreements with Chile, the Faroe Islands and Eastern and Southern African Economic Partnership Agreement states, as well as Mutual Recognition Agreements with Australia and New Zealand. Other agreements are soon to follow. When we reach agreement with other countries will depend on the progress of ongoing discussions, taking into account a range of factors. The Government will continue to inform Parliament and the public when agreements are signed and will be making an announcement soon.
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what role the devolved Administrations will have in developing the UK’s trade policy after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The UK Government is committed to working closely with the Devolved Administrations to deliver a future trade policy that works for the whole of the UK. The Government recently committed to a new Ministerial Forum on International Trade with the Devolved Administrations which will provide a formal mechanism for Devolved Government Ministers to discuss and provide input to future trade negotiations.
My Department continues to work with the Devolved Administrations on their role in future trade arrangements and is supporting this work with a programme of ongoing engagement at both Ministerial and official level.