Commonwealth: Trade

(asked on 12th January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to promote trade across the Commonwealth.


Answered by
Amanda Milling Portrait
Amanda Milling
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This question was answered on 20th January 2022

We are committed to working with our friends and allies in the Commonwealth to remove unnecessary barriers to free and fair trade. At CHOGM18, Heads of Government adopted the Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda for Trade and Investment with the ambition of enhancing cooperation and boosting intra-Commonwealth trade to $2 trillion by 2030. Programmes such as the UK-funded Commonwealth Trade Facilitation Programme have helped member states implement the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement, and our SheTrades programme has supported over 3,500 women-owned businesses in the Commonwealth to participate in international trade and helped generate £32million in sales for Women Owned Businesses.

The UK already has trade deals with 33 Commonwealth members. In addition, a further 15 Commonwealth members who qualify as developing countries benefit from reduced tariffs under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP). The Government is currently reviewing the GSP, with the aim of making it more generous and simpler for partner countries and businesses to use, and will launch a new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) in 2022. The DCTS will be a major opportunity to grow free and fair-trade with our Commonwealth partners,  allowing them to diversify and grow their economies.

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