Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department has taken steps to use Britain’s trade relationship with the Faroe Islands to help stop the hunting of whales, dolphins and other cetaceans on the islands.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is strongly opposed to the hunting of whales and dolphins. UK Officials have raised its concerns at many fora including at the International Whaling Commission and through Faroese representation in London. The Department for International Trade will continue to utilise the opportunities provided by our Trade Agreement to engage the Faroese authorities on this important matter, including through the Joint Committee of the agreement.
Strong diplomatic and economic relationships with partners, enables us to have frank discussions on such issues.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that UK pesticide standards will be upheld during negotiations on joining in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership protects the right for members to regulate on public policy issues such as environmental standards. This includes setting regulations on pesticides. The Government will continue to ensure that its own levels of protection are based on appropriate scientific risk assessment with the protection of people and the environment being of greatest importance. The Government shares the public’s high regard for the UK’s environmental protections and will not compromise on them. The Government has ensured in law that its existing standards will remain in place, and is clear that trade does not have to come at the expense of the environment.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department has taken to remove investor-state dispute settlement from the UK-Australia Free Trade Deal.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement Investment chapter will not include Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). In light of the UK-Australia investment relationship, the UK and Australia decided that it was not necessary to include ISDS.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that the free trade deal with Australia will not result in lower (a) environmental, (b) animal welfare and (c) food standards in the UK.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has always been clear that this deal will not compromise the UK’s high standards.
Maintaining the UK’s high environmental, animal welfare and food standards is a red line in trade negotiations. This agreement does not create new permissions for imports from Australia, and any agri-food products imported into the UK will – as now – have to comply with our high import requirements and standards.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect on the environment of food imports resulting from the trade deal between the UK and Australia.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has always been clear that any deals it signs will not threaten the UK’s ability to meet its environmental commitments or its membership of international environmental agreements. The Government is seeking a deal with Australia that will further environmental and climate policy priorities and the UK will not compromise on high environmental protection.
The Government carried out a public consultation and scoping assessment for its free trade agreement negotiation with Australia, which can be found on the Government’s website. This preliminary scoping assessment considered illustrative scenarios. Following the conclusion of negotiations, a full impact assessment will be published prior to implementation.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will list the countries and territories (a) invited by UK Defence and Security Exports to attend Security and Policing 2021 and (b) that attended Security and Policing 2020.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The countries, territories and organisations invited to attend Security and Policing 2021 are listed below. Those annotated with a * are the countries, territories and organisations that attended.
Algeria *
Argentina
Australia *
Austria *
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belgium *
Brazil
Bulgaria *
Canada *
Croatia *
Czech Republic *
Denmark *
Egypt *
Finland *
France
Germany
Ghana *
Greece *
Hungary *
India *
Indonesia
Iraq
Italy *
Japan *
Kenya *
Latvia *
Lithuania
Luxembourg *
Malaysia *
Mexico
Morocco *
NATO
Netherlands *
New Zealand *
Nigeria *
Norway *
Oman *
Pakistan *
Peru *
Poland *
Portugal *
Qatar
Romania *
Saudi Arabia *
Singapore *
South Africa *
South Korea *
Sweden *
Switzerland *
Taiwan *
Thailand
Trinidad & Tobago
Turkey
Ukraine *
UN *
USA *
Vietnam *
The list of countries, territories and organisations that attended Security and Policing 2020 were:
Australia
Belgium
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Colombia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Luxembourg
Morocco
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain
Trinidad & Tobago
Turkey
UAE
Ukraine
United Nations (UN)
United States
Uzbekistan
The full list of countries, territories and organisations invited and those that attended Security and Policing 2020 can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/security-and-policing-2020
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether current licences for components for bombs issued on 4 August 2020 include contracts for Raytheon Systems UK to deliver Paveway IVs or components thereof to Saudi Arabia; and whether she has made an assessment of the effect of the the US and Italian Government's decisions to suspend or revoke certain sales and export licences to Saudi Arabia on the UK export of aerial ground-attack munitions and their components to Saudi Arabia.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
HM Government will continue to take its export responsibilities seriously and assess all export licences in accordance with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria (the ‘Consolidated Criteria’). The decisions of other countries are matters for them.
Disclosure of information relating to private contracts between businesses would be inappropriate.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what processes her Department has put in place to monitor UK Export Finance's distribution of the £1 billion fund allocated to support overseas buyers of UK defence and security goods and services.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the March 2020 budget, UK Export Finance (UKEF) was allocated £1 billion of direct lending capacity for defence and security projects, within its £8 billion overall direct lending capacity. This £1 billion of direct lending is subject to the same monitoring processes as UKEF’s overall direct lending facility.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry 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 UK export licensing of the 11 December 2019 communication to the ICC calling on it to investigate UK Government-authorised exports of arms to members of the Saudi/UAE-led coalition in Yemen.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, last updated in a Written Ministerial Statement on 25 March 2014, remains the policy for assessing all licence applications.
Our assessment of each export licence against the Consolidated Criteria takes into account our obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty and other relevant rules of international law.