Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to initiate the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRAG) process for the UK–India Free Trade Agreement by laying the treaty before Parliament.

The Government laid the treaty text of the UK-India Free Trade Agreement before Parliament on 21 January. The statutory period provided by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 will commence on 22 January. The Government is prioritising bringing the deal into force as quickly as possible. The agreement is expected to significantly accelerate trade between the UK and India – increasing bilateral trade by £25.5 billion every year in the long run. As soon as the agreement comes into force, import duties on UK exports are estimated to reduce by around £400 million, increasing to £900 million after 10 years.