Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Universal Postal Union on its recognition of postage stamps issued by the British Indian Ocean Territory.

The Foreign Secretary is aware that the subject of British Ocean Indian Territory (BIOT) was raised at the Universal Postal Union's (UPU) Council of Administration session on 26-30 April 2021. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which leads on Her Majesty's Government engagement with the UPU, restated the UK position on sovereignty over BIOT at that meeting.