Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent estimate she has made of the average waiting time for British food brands to be granted geographical indication status in Japan.

The UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) entered into effect on 1 January 2021, and secured protection for 7 of the most economically valuable UK Geographical Indications (GIs) from day one.

The department is having positive discussions with the Japanese government on completing the process of registering GIs and adding them to our agreement text. We look forward to seeing progress soon, though as these discussions are live it would be inappropriate to comment on specific timescales.