Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the implications for the Government's policies of the multi-party interim appeal arrangement entered into by the EU and 16 other WTO members to settle appeal proceedings in the absence of a functioning WTO appellate body; and what plans the Government has to participate in that arrangement.

The UK remains a strong supporter of the multilateral trading system and the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system. A fully-functioning, compulsory, binding, and impartial dispute settlement system with an appeal function is important in providing certainty and stability to the WTO system. The UK notes that some WTO Members are now considering multi-party interim appeal arrangements as a contingency measure whilst the Appellate Body is inquorate. The final proposal for such an interim arrangement has not yet been published, and we will continue to follow developments on this closely.