Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the 6 July 2020 Statistics on DIT export support objectives (2019 to 2020), what factors her Department uses to assess barriers to digital trade.

To be clear, the statistics to which the Rt Hon. Lady refers are not reflective of digital barriers alone. The 1,238 barriers on the Digital Market Access Service system in 2019/2020, and the 175 resolved barriers, cover a range of sectors, countries and issues, not just digital barriers.

The Digital Market Access Service is an internal digital platform used by government officials to help improve access and opportunity for British businesses around the world. The platform enables officials to record up to date information on market access barriers, and supports joint working to remove them where it is possible to do so.

We have begun to publish information on GOV.UK, in a form that enables users to search for barriers based on their location or sector and read descriptions explaining their effect. Users can search for barriers that have been resolved too. Barriers published on this service are not an indication of government priority.