Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what joint work they are undertaking with the EU into the human rights situation in Cambodia; what assessment they have made of the EU’s partial withdrawal of trade privileges under the “Anything But Arms” trade arrangements due to human rights abuses and the undermining of democracy in that country; whether they plan to make any similar amendments to their trade arrangements with Cambodia; and if not, why not.

The United Kingdom has concerns about human rights in Cambodia and continues to raise these with the Cambodian government at every opportunity. For example, when explaining the UK’s approach on trade preferences to Cambodia, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Cambodia expressed our concerns about the human rights situation to Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister in December 2020.

We continue to monitor the situation in Cambodia and consider if it is appropriate to suspend preferences in line with the provisions of our Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) scheme, taking into account the human rights situation as well as the economic impact of COVID-19 and the impact on vulnerable people, including female garment factory workers.