Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department's proposed Developing Countries Trading Scheme will include (a) equivalent or (b) improved human rights protections in comparison to the Generalised Scheme of Preferences; and if she will make a statement.

The detailed proposals for the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) will be published in 2022. When these proposals are published, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade will provide a written ministerial statement.

HM Government believes that growing trading relationships increases UK influence in open conversations with partners on a range of difficult issues, including human rights. The UK will continue to show global leadership in encouraging all states to uphold international human rights obligations and hold those who violate human rights to account.