Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ensuring that seafood exporters in the South West have ready access to haulier export certificates.

I understand that the question relates to road haulage permits and market access.

The Government is committed to a Free Trade Agreement that would enable liberalised road haulage arrangements to continue.

In the event that the Transition Period ends without a Free Trade Agreement, it is not the Government’s intention to rely solely on ECMT permits for market access.

However, ECMT permits would be used to supplement wider market access arrangements, either under an EU-wide agreement or a series of bilateral agreements with EU MS.??An application window for ECMT permits opened on 2 November 2020 and will close on 20 November 2020.