Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he has made an assessment of the possibility of making exclusions to Rules of Origin regulations in any future free trade deal between the UK and the EU.

The question presupposes the nature of our future relationship with the EU, on which a decision has not yet been taken. As the Prime Minister has said: we want British companies to have the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the Single Market – and to let European businesses do the same here. We are not seeking to replicate any other model: we want a bespoke approach, which works for the UK.

Of course, we understand the importance of preferential rules of origin in the context of a Free Trade Agreement, but we are analysing all of the different options that are available to us.