Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which of the continuity free trade agreements negotiated by her Department since 2019 contain prohibitions on duty (a) drawback and (b) exemptions.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
There are currently prohibitions to duty drawback and exemptions in agreements with Canada, Chile, Mexico and Singapore. In addition, there are restrictions on duty drawback and exemptions in place with most trading partners that are signatories to the Pan-European-Mediterranean Convention.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel on 22 February (HL13173) and 9 March (HL13586), to list in the body of their answer which specific countries they have secured continuity trade agreements with since the UK’s departure from the EU.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
In addition to our deal with the EU, we have secured trade agreements with 66 non-EU countries, covering £890 billion of trade in total (2019 data). These are:
Albania;
Antigua and Barbuda;
Barbados;
The Bahamas;
Belize;
Botswana;
Cameroon;
Canada;
Colombia;
Côte d’Ivoire (The Ivory Coast);
Costa Rica;
Chile;
Dominica;
The Dominican Republic;
Ecuador;
Egypt;
El Salvador;
Eswatini (Swaziland);
The Faroe Islands;
Fiji;
Ghana;
Grenada;
Guyana;
Guatemala;
Georgia;
Honduras;
Iceland;
Israel;
Japan;
Jordan;
Jamaica;
Kenya;
Kosovo;
Lebanon;
Lesotho;
Liechtenstein;
Mexico;
Morocco;
Moldova;
Mozambique;
Mauritius;
Nicaragua;
Norway;
North Macedonia;
Namibia;
Peru;
Panama;
Papua New Guinea;
The Palestinian Authority;
Saint Lucia;
St. Vincent and the Grenadines;
Samoa;
The Solomon Islands;
St. Kitts and Nevis;
The Seychelles;
South Africa;
Switzerland;
Singapore;
South Korea;
Suriname;
Trinidad and Tobago;
Tunisia;
Turkey;
Ukraine;
Vietnam; and
Zimbabwe.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the timeframe is for the free trade agreement with Mexico to come into force.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom-Mexico trade deal was formally laid in Parliament on 26th February 2021. Mexico is in the process of completing their domestic legislative processes required to bring the agreement into force too.
We have published the text of the agreement and guidance for British business at: gov.uk/government/publications/ukmexico-trade-continuity-agreement.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel on 22 February (HL13173), whether they will now answer the question put, namely, further to the UK's departure from the EU, with which countries they have signed continuity trade agreements.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
We have secured trade agreements with 65 countries, plus the EU, covering £890 billion of trade in 2019, equivalent to 63% of the United Kingdom’s total trade.
On 2nd March, HM Government signed a Trade Partnership Agreement with Ghana.
Some countries with which we have signed agreements have not been able to bring the agreement into effect or have not been able to do so fully. They are in the process of completing the final necessary steps to allow the agreements to enter into effect fully. This is the case for Canada, Jordan and Mexico.
We have set out on GOV.UK the signed agreements that entered into effect on 1st January and have published advice for those agreements that are not in place fully. The link can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-trade-agreements-with-non-eu-countries.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether UK trade agreements with Albania, Canada, Jordan and Mexico are planned to take effect within the first half of 2021.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
We have secured trade agreements with 64 countries, plus the EU, covering £889 billion of trade in 2019. Most of these trade agreements entered into effect from 1st January 2021, when the transition period ended.
Some countries with which we have signed agreements have not been able to bring the agreement into effect or have not been able to do so fully. They are in the process of completing the final necessary steps to allow the agreements to enter into effect fully. This is the case for Canada, Jordan and Mexico.
HM Government signed a Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement with Albania on 5th February. Albania is currently undertaking the domestic parliamentary processes required to bring the agreement into effect.
We have set out on GOV.UK the signed agreements that entered into effect on 1st January, and have published advice for those agreements that are not in place fully.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to communicate with interested UK parties in the event of trade deals not being reached with (1) Turkey, and (2) Mexico, by 31 December 2020.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
As of 15th December, we have reached agreements with 58 countries, covering trade worth £198 billion, which includes the agreement with Mexico, which was signed on the 15th December.
The Department for International Trade (DIT) has published clear, accurate, and up-to-date information and guidance for business on GOV.UK and we will continue to provide guidance to business, including the latest information on agreements with partners such as Turkey, and will further supplement the detailed guidance already available online, as we approach the end of the transition period.
The Department is in regular contact with business and has also created free-to-use online tools (Trade with the UK and Check How to Export Goods) so that businesses can check product-specific and country-specific information on tariffs and regulations that currently apply to trade in goods. These tools are regularly updated to reflect any changes.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made in securing a free trade agreement with Mexico.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
In under two years, HM Government has signed, or agreed in principle, trade agreements with 57 countries that accounted for £193 billion of bilateral trade in 2019. The negotiations behind our continuity programme are unprecedented in scale and ambition – and are helping to secure better jobs, higher wages, more choice and lower prices for the British people.
An up-to-date list of trade continuity agreements, signed and in discussion, is available on GOV.UK and our work to secure free and fair trade around the world remains a top priority for the Department.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their strategy for future trade relations with Latin America.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The Department for International Trade works extensively in Latin America and the Caribbean to strengthen the United Kingdom’s trade and investment relationships, with staff based in?19 countries?across the region.
The United Kingdom has concluded trade continuity agreements with Chile, CARIFORUM, six Central American countries and the Andean Community (Colombia, Peru and Ecuador), which will allow United Kingdom business to continue trading on preferential terms.
Additionally, HM Government is working with Peru, Mexico and Chile as part of the United Kingdom’s potential accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Ministers also regularly discuss trade with their counterparts, including through dialogues such as the UK-Brazil Joint Economic and Trade Committee.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if the UK’s future approach to the import of fur and fur products has been discussed during her Department’s negotiations of potential rollover free trade agreements with (a) Canada, (b) Mexico, (c) Moldova, (d) Turkey, and (e) Norway.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
HM Government shares the British public's high regard for animal welfare. There are restrictions on some skin and fur products, which cannot be legally imported into the United Kingdom. These include fur from cats and dogs, seal skins and products from commercial hunts. Legislation has prohibited farming of animals for their fur since 2000 in England and Wales, and 2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Once our future relationship with the EU has been established, we will have the opportunity to consider further steps we could take in relation to fur sales – and our commitment to tackling the illegal wildlife trade more generally.
For continuity trade agreements, it is important to be clear that these are the EU’s trade agreements that we are simply seeking to replicate in order to secure continuity for British businesses, but foreign partners should be under no illusion that HM Government is clear in its commitment to protect endangered species and uphold our animal welfare standards.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when her Department last held negotiations with the Government of Mexico on a potential trade agreement that would take effect when existing EU trade agreements no longer apply to the UK; and at what level those negotiations were held.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
HM Government has ambitious goals for British trade; our aim is to have 80% of United Kingdom trade with countries covered by free trade agreements within the next three years, starting with the USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Work to transition EU trade agreements contributes to this ambition.
To date, the United Kingdom has signed, or agreed in principle, 21 trade agreements, with 49 countries. This includes the United Kingdom–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, which was agreed in principle on 11th September 2020. Our total trade with these countries was worth £142 billion in 2019.
We are continuing our work to replicate existing EU trade agreements with trading partners, to secure continuity for British businesses at the end of the transition period. Negotiations continue on the remaining trade continuity agreements in a way that reflects the reality of the current situation.
An up-to-date list of trade continuity agreements, signed and in discussion, is available on GOV.UK at: gov.uk/guidance/uk-trade-agreements-with-non-eu-countries