Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 20.2 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the work of the Japanese government to strengthen cooperation between the UK and Japan on (a) identifying ways to assist small and medium enterprises to take advantage of the commercial the agreement and (b) promote and facilitate trade and investment opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises since that agreement came into effect.

The Department for International Trade is content that both the UK and Japan are meeting their obligations with regards to Article 20.2.

The UK and Japan have made resources available on their respective government websites to support businesses to take advantage of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), including tariff lines and essential business guidance.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Investment have agreed to a series of workshops, policy dialogues and commercial engagement with business in line with the small and medium-sized enterprises chapter of the CEPA.