Progress with trade negotiations

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 30 Nov 2021 Closed: 27 May 2022 Parliament page
Trade is vital to the UK economy. In 2019, the UK exported goods and services worth £689 billion and UK imports were worth £717 billion. Following EU exit, the Government is taking forward the UK’s independent international trade policy and is aiming for 80% of UK trade to be covered … Read more
8 Recommendations
21 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
1 Letter
1 Event
Activity timeline 5 events
27 May
2022
Report published
18 Mar
2022
Report published
22 Feb
2022
Correspondence
19 Jan
2022
Oral evidence
19 Jan
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 8, Palace of Westminster
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
19 Jan 2022
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Progress with trade negotiations
Amanda Brooks · Department for International Trade Beatrice Kilroy-Nolan · Cabinet Office Crawford Falconer · Department for International Trade James Bowler CB · HM Treasury Katrina Williams · The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with trade negotiations HC 993 18 Mar 2022 29 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
8 results
Clear
11 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
We asked the Department about the value of state-to-UK bilateral agreements, in terms of contributing...
We asked the Department about the value of state-to-UK bilateral agreements, in terms of contributing to the 80% target. The Department could not tell us and thought this would be hard to calculate. The Department said that it had not … Read more
Government Response
The department states that the ending of bans on UK beef and lamb exports to the US are estimated to be worth £66 million and £37 million of export opportunities respectively and will use trade data to understand export trends over time.
HM Treasury
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12 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
The Department set out four measures in its Outcome Delivery Plan (ODP) for 2021–22 to...
The Department set out four measures in its Outcome Delivery Plan (ODP) for 2021–22 to measure its progress on its programme of trade negotiations. One of these measures, described in the previous section, is the percentage of UK trade with … Read more
Government Response
DIT’s Outcome Delivery Plan (ODP) includes metrics for trade negotiations, and DIT will report on progress against each of the ODPs and continue to keep its ODP metrics under review.
HM Treasury
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13 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
The Department has published an impact or scoping assessment for each new FTA it is...
The Department has published an impact or scoping assessment for each new FTA it is pursuing to help businesses and the public understand the potential economic benefits of the agreement and to support Parliamentary scrutiny.29 For example, the impact assessment … Read more
Government Response
The department publishes detailed impact assessments and will publish monitoring reports which will provide DIT’s analytical evidence base to inform Parliament, the public and other interested stakeholders on progress and actual benefits.
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
We asked the Department how it planned to support businesses, particularly small and medium-sized businesses...
We asked the Department how it planned to support businesses, particularly small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), to take advantage of the opportunities in trade agreements.36 The Department’s 2020 survey of UK registered businesses found that just 28% of surveyed businesses … Read more
Government Response
The department will write within 12 months on this recommendation, setting out how it is helping businesses take advantage of trade agreements and market openings, and mentioning the Export Support Service and other initiatives.
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
We asked Defra for its assessment of the effect of the Australian FTA on British...
We asked Defra for its assessment of the effect of the Australian FTA on British agriculture. Defra said that it was confident that the phasing in of the liberalisation and the safeguards provide a period of adjustment for the UK … Read more
Government Response
DIT is committed to using monitoring and evaluation (M&E) findings to ensure benefits are maximised, publishing a biennial FTA monitoring report, and working with DEFRA to support agricultural, and food and drink exports.
HM Treasury
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21 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
We asked why the National Farmers Union is so pessimistic about the trade agreement.
We asked why the National Farmers Union is so pessimistic about the trade agreement. The Department admitted that there were risks and downsides to the deal and that a body which represents the interests of farmers would be concerned about … Read more
Government Response
DIT is committed to using monitoring and evaluation (M&E) findings to ensure that the benefits for businesses, workers and consumers are maximised and will publish a biennial FTA monitoring report. DIT will also work with DEFRA to support agricultural, and food and drink exports.
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
Defra told us that it has looked very carefully into the question of carbon emissions.57...
Defra told us that it has looked very carefully into the question of carbon emissions.57 Its analysis so far suggests that carbon emissions resulting from shipping goods from Australia to the UK are not the most significant factor when looking … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and will continue to ensure a high level of environmental protection in new trade agreements, working with DEFRA to monitor free trade agreements and publishing a comprehensive ex-post evaluation of the UK-Australia agreement within 5 years.
HM Treasury
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24 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
We asked the Department whether it thought that the general public knew about trade.
We asked the Department whether it thought that the general public knew about trade. The Department told us that based on its survey, the public was “highly supportive of the trade agenda”.65 However, the NAO noted that the Department has … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and says it publishes materials before negotiations, after they conclude, and is highly consultative, publishing explanatory information on the impact of agreements. It constantly reviews its economic analysis methodologies and seeks views of the public through tools including the Public Attitudes to Trade Tracker.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 20 of 8 classified
Accepted 8
Acknowledged 8
Deferred 1
Not Addressed 2
Rejected 1
Total 8 recs + 21 conclusions
Correspondence 1 letter
22 Feb 2022 Correspondence from James Bowler, Permanent Secretary, Department for International Trade, re Public Accounts Committee: Progress of Trade Negotiations, dated 4 February 2022
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