Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Trade Policy during proceedings in Committee on the Trade Bill of 1 February 2018, on New Clause 10, whether implementation of the functions in clauses 7 and 8 of that Bill is voluntary for HMRC officials.

Under clause 7, Treasury reserve the power to specify the type of information to be collected and how it will be requested. Once in force, clause 7 creates a function for HMRC to seek to collect data. Therefore, HMRC officials will be required to seek to collect the data. Businesses, on the other hand, will only have to provide the data on a voluntary basis.

The provision of the information under clause 8 will not be voluntary provided it meets criteria within the clause and is not subject to breaching any restrictions under the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005, the Data Protection Acts and the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.