Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what trade agreements he expects the UK to have agreed and will be in force on 29 March 2019.

As a matter of priority, the Government is working to ensure there is no disruption to the UK’s global trading relationships. Discussions with partner countries have demonstrated a commitment to finding a pragmatic way to ensure continuity of our existing international agreements.

Alongside the Withdrawal Agreement, the EU agreed to notify its treaty partners that the UK be treated as a Member State for the purposes of EU international agreements during the Implementation Period (IP). This includes trade agreements.

The Government continues to prepare for all eventualities, including a ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario, in the event of which we will seek to bring into force bilateral agreements from exit day (29 March 2019) or as soon as possible thereafter. We are making good progress and have signed continuity agreements with Chile, the Faroe Islands and Eastern and Southern African Economic Partnership Agreement states, as well as Mutual Recognition Agreements with Australia and New Zealand. Other agreements are soon to follow. When we reach agreement with other countries will depend on the progress of ongoing discussions, taking into account a range of factors. The Government will continue to inform Parliament and the public when agreements are signed and will be making an announcement soon.