Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their plans to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, what assessment they have made of whether that Agreement would apply equally across the UK, given the requirements of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

The Government is clear that the UK must function as a single customs territory. Therefore, we will ensure the application of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to all four constituent nations of the UK, takes into account the effects of the Ireland/Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol. The Protocol mainly concerns trade in goods, and only for imports. NI businesses will therefore be able to benefit from the lower tariffs we will be able to deliver for exporters as a result of joining CPTPP.