Greg Hands: The Government is committed to driving mutual prosperity between the UK and Nepal, enabling UK businesses to take full advantage of Nepal’s high growth sectors such as renewable energy, education and retail. Officials have worked with colleagues in country to remove barriers to trade, such as the recent lifting of import restrictions on luxury goods, and the removal of a lock-in period for...
Greg Hands: Following the UK-US small and medium sized enterprises (SME) Dialogue in Edinburgh, the UK and US governments agreed to convene government officials for expert-level discussions on digital trade and customs and trade facilitation, and identify opportunities for deeper cooperation on digital issues and paperless trading. The UK and US also agreed to update and enhance resources for SME...
Greg Hands: The government has committed to publishing evaluations of each of the UK-Japan, UK-Australia and UK-New Zealand agreements, within 5 years of each agreement’s entry into force.
Greg Hands: The UK is committed to working with African partners to ensure trade supports long-term climate action. The Secretary of State for International Trade participated in the inaugural meeting of the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate, alongside 7 African trade ministers.
Greg Hands: Newly implemented trade agreements provide for institutional mechanisms for compliance monitoring of labour and climate provisions. The Department for International Trade has established independent advisory bodies to monitor compliance and advise on the implementation of climate and labour provisions.
Greg Hands: The Secretary of State had a bilateral discussion with the United States Trade Representative at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 18th January 2023. This was their second bilateral discussion since the Secretary of State’s appointment in September 2022.
Greg Hands: At the UK-U.S. Dialogues, the UK and US agreed to further strengthen our bilateral trade through new cooperation on digital trade, securing supply chains, and support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Government have since held US-UK SME Dialogues in Boston in June and Edinburgh in November, where we agreed to take forward joint projects on SME tools to support UK and US...
Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade has already published details from a number of working groups, committees and dialogues established by the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. We endeavour to publish minutes where possible and, once completed and agreed with Japan, they are uploaded to the following site: www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-japan-cepa-documents. For...
Greg Hands: The UK-Japan Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) has so far been convened twice. It was held first on the 13th October 2021 and secondly, on the 1st December 2022.
Greg Hands: The June 2022 WTO TRIPS Decision streamlines existing compulsory licensing processes for COVID-19 vaccines. It does not waive patents. The WTO General Council in December agreed to extend the deadline to determine whether to include therapeutics and diagnostics in this Decision, but no timeline was set. HM Government recognises that COVID-19 remains a serious challenge and that we need to...
Greg Hands: 534 FTE Civil Servants were working on trade negotiations in December 2020, 513 in 2021, and 516 in 2022.
Greg Hands: The first UK-Japan Joint Dialogue with Civil Society is scheduled for 6th February 2023. The Department for International Trade is working with the Government’s Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) Domestic Advisory Group to prepare for the Dialogue and ensure that civil society participants covering all areas of TSD are represented.
Greg Hands: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave her on 13th January 2023, UIN 117618, and the answers I gave her today, UIN 119142, 119143.
Greg Hands: The Government does not believe that the UK National Health Service has any cooperation mechanisms with India on intellectual property matters related to health services.
Greg Hands: The Department responded to the fourth report of the International Trade Select Committee on 5 January 2023.
Greg Hands: This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) seeks to bolster an already strong trading relationship, with £1.2bn of UK goods being imported into the state of North Carolina in 2021. It establishes a working group to monitor and deliver MoU activities and outcomes. Following a successful UK offshore wind delegation to North Carolina in November 2022, which explored trade and investment...
Greg Hands: The Government publishes analysis to assess the potential impacts of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in advance of negotiations. On conclusion of negotiations for a new agreement, a full impact assessment is published. The Government publishes analysis that is proportionate to the scope of negotiations and the agreement’s likely impact.
Greg Hands: Officials from the Department for International Trade continue to work closely with officials from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the Energy Charter Treaty and have held regular meetings in the last 6 months.
Greg Hands: This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) seeks to bolster an already strong trading relationship, with £1.0bn of UK goods being imported into the state of Indiana in 2021. It lays the foundation for closer cooperation on government procurement and priority sectors including energy and infrastructure. The MoU has provided a framework for increased engagement on economic development, trade...
Greg Hands: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion, on 8 December 2022, UIN 92159.
