UK Inquiry Tracker

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 4 events

27 May
2022

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty Fifth report from Session 2021-22

18 Mar
2022

Report published

Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with trade negotiations

22 Feb
2022

Correspondence

Correspondence from James Bowler, Permanent Secretary, Department for International Trade, re Public Accounts Committee: Progress of Trade …

19 Jan
2022

Oral evidence

Progress with trade negotiations

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

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with trade negotiations	HC 993	18 Mar 2022	29	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

7 results

4 Recommendation Not Addressed

Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…

The farming industry has concerns about the effect of significant competition from imported Australian meat,...

The farming industry has concerns about the effect of significant competition from imported Australian meat, and there is a lack of clarity on the potential environmental impacts from increased trade with Australia. The FTA with Australia signed in December 2021 … Read more The farming industry has concerns about the effect of significant competition from imported Australian meat, and there is a lack of clarity on the potential environmental impacts from increased trade with Australia. The FTA with Australia signed in December 2021 removed tariffs and quotas on many agricultural products imported from Australia. There are four safeguards to protect the agriculture sector, including a 15-year safeguard to protect UK beef and lamb from a rapid rise in Australian imports following implementation of the deal. The Department says that the safeguard is adequate given the length of the transition period and because the increase in imports is expected to be small relative to the size of the UK market. However, the National Farmers Union remains pessimistic about the impact of competition from Australia on farmers who may lose out in exchange for gains in other areas of the economy. Defra expects imports from Australia to largely displace existing imports, for example from the EU, and says that it is doing a lot to help the agriculture sector export, such as setting up a food and drink export council. The Department and also Defra tell us that they have modelled the environmental impact of the deal with Australia, and do not expect there to be Progress with trade negotiations 7 changes in greenhouse gas emissions of UK production, or that transporting goods from Australia will have a big impact on carbon emissions when compared to other parts of the production process. However, the departments acknowledge that more needs to be known about carbon emissions and the interaction between transport and trade. Recommendation: Defra should work with the Department for International Trade to monitor the impact of free trade agreements in its policy areas. In particular, it should: i) monitor imports closely to make an ongoing assessment of the impact of the Australia FTA on beef and sheep farmers, and set out what support could be provided to those farm Show less

Government Response

Response refers to elective and cancer treatment waiting times, which is unrelated to the recommendation regarding monitoring the impact of free trade agreements.

HM Treasury

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1 Conclusion Not Addressed

Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for International Trade (the Department), the Cabinet Office and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).2 We were also joined … Read more

Government Response

The government response simply recaps the committee's process of taking evidence and publishing its report, without addressing any specific points.

HM Treasury

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7 Conclusion Not Addressed

Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…

In addition to the programme of negotiations, the Department also needs to implement and review...

In addition to the programme of negotiations, the Department also needs to implement and review existing agreements.14 The Department told us that it has set up governance committees to provide an overview of how FTAs are being implemented in practice … Read more

Government Response

The government's response explicitly addresses a different recommendation regarding the development of outcome-based metrics for trade negotiations, not the committee's point about implementing and reviewing existing agreements or workload.

HM Treasury

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17 Conclusion Not Addressed

Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…

We asked the Department how it would benchmark its trade promotion activities against those of...

We asked the Department how it would benchmark its trade promotion activities against those of countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong. The Department said that it 34 Q 30; C&AG’s report, para 4.19; Department for International Trade, Impact assessment … Read more

Government Response

The government's response explicitly addresses a different recommendation concerning outcome-based metrics for trade negotiations, failing to engage with the committee's observation about benchmarking trade promotion activities or measuring their specific outcomes.

HM Treasury

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18 Conclusion

Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…

We received written evidence from Logistics UK, asking for specific provisions to be included in...

We received written evidence from Logistics UK, asking for specific provisions to be included in future FTAs to make it easier for UK businesses to trade with the rest of the world. These include, for example, commitments to clear goods … Read more

HM Treasury

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19 Conclusion Not Addressed

Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…

The FTA with Australia signed on 17 December 2021 removed almost all tariffs and quotas...

The FTA with Australia signed on 17 December 2021 removed almost all tariffs and quotas on agricultural products from Australia over 15 years. Tariff-free beef quotas, for example, would increase from a current 4,669 tonnes to 35,000 tonnes immediately after … Read more

Government Response

Response discusses DIT's commitment to monitoring and evaluation findings, publishing a biennial FTA monitoring report, and working with DEFRA to support agricultural exports. It does not address the specific concerns raised in the conclusion.

HM Treasury

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25 Conclusion Not Addressed

Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…

Which?

Which? also highlighted the importance of reflecting consumer interests more generally and suggested that a consumer chapter should be included in each trade agreement.69 The Department confirmed that the UK-New Zealand trade agreement will include a “first ever” chapter on … Read more

Government Response

The government's response focuses on general transparency in trade negotiations, economic analysis methodologies, and public engagement, rather than addressing the committee's specific point about including consumer protection chapters in trade agreements.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 28 of 8 classified

Accepted 12

Acknowledged 8

Deferred 1

Not Addressed 6

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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