Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of (a) the potential for the UK-Kenya trade deal to lead to different tariff arrangements in Kenya to other nations in the East Africa Community customs union and (b) the potential effect of that deal on regional integration and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in East Africa; and if she will make a statement.

The UK-Kenya agreement is an exciting first step towards a UK-East African Community (EAC) agreement. All other EAC members will benefit from our preference scheme announced 10 November 2020, providing them with duty free access. There will be no change in the access that UK exporters have to the other EAC members after 1 January.

Providing Kenya with guaranteed long-term access will help to boost the whole region. The UK-Kenya agreement is not only open to all EAC Partner States to join at any time, but will also immediately allow Kenya to include inputs from other EAC states in its exports, supporting regional integration.