Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) how many continuity trade agreements have been found to contain drafting errors after ratification; (2) which of those errors involve provisions that are no longer applicable to the UK now it has left the EU; and (3) what are the titles of the agreements affected by drafting errors.

HM Government has secured trade deals with 69 non-EU countries, many of which sought to replicate the effect of EU trade agreements. This meant that, when rolling over these agreements, the majority of EU texts remained unchanged and some language was retained with the understanding that it may require modifications once we had taken back control of our trade policy.

When implementing agreements, it is standard practice to amend, correct or update them over time depending upon the circumstances, and this can be achieved without launching new trade negotiations. This principle applies to the agreement with Ukraine and to other trade deals.