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 benefits of the UK joining the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention; and if she will make a statement.

Government analysis and extensive engagement with industry supported our decision not to seek to accede to the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean (PEM) Convention in parallel to our negotiations with the EU. Instead, we negotiated a deal with the EU that is tailored to the make-up of our economy. In all our trade deals we tailor our approach to rules of origin to support businesses. This has included use of modernised PEM rules, for example in our free trade agreements with Switzerland and EEA-EFTA States. The Government does not have any plans to change this position.