Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what level of consultation officials in his Department had with their counterparts in the Department for Business and Trade during the negotiation of the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP); and whether his Department has made an assessment of the implications for its policies of the findings of Public Health Wales’ report entitled The health, well-being and equity impact of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Agreement on Wales.

Officials across Government work closely to support the negotiation of the United Kingdom’s trade deals, including the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). While the Department has not made a specific assessment of this report, the Government has been clear that protecting the National Health Service is a fundamental principle of our trade policy. During our negotiations to accede to CPTPP our commitment to this did not change; the NHS, its services and the price it pays for medicines were never on the table. CPTPP preserves the right to regulate to protect human, animal and plant life and health. The UK will continue to uphold our high standards in all our trade agreements, including CPTPP. Decisions on these standards remain a matter for the UK and will be made separately from any trade agreements.