Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential for trade disputes on data flows to arise from Article 14.11 of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

We are confident that the UK would be able to uphold its commitments for Article 14.11 under the Electronic Commerce chapter of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) if the UK is successful in acceding to this agreement.

Article 14.11 of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership includes an exception to cross-border data flows for the purpose of achieving a legitimate public policy objective. This provides sufficient policy flexibility for the UK to act in future in our national interest and ensure continued high levels of personal data protection.