Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he has taken to negotiate a free trade deal with Malawi after the UK leaves the EU.
The Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act 2018 enables the UK to put in place a trade preferences scheme for developing countries that maintains duty-free, quota-free access to Least Developed Countries, including Malawi.
The UK has signed an Economic Partnership Agreement with Eastern and Southern Africa States (ESA). As Malawi has not acceded to the ESA-EU EPA it is not party to the transitioned UK EPA although it is eligible to do so in the future.