Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement 2020-11-19 (2)

Thursday 19 November 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The UK-Japan CEPA will benefit farmers and food producers in Wales through lower tariffs and new rules of origin.
  • Twelve Welsh geographic indicator products are protected in the UK-Japan deal, including Welsh lamb, Welsh beef, and other iconic Welsh products.
  • The Department aims to respect and protect these geographic indicators in future trade deals.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Fay Jones
Wales Brexit Business & Trade
Context

The UK-Japan CEPA is expected to offer significant advantages, particularly in lowering tariffs. This question seeks details on the specific measures taken by the Department of International Trade to ensure Welsh farmers and food producers benefit from these provisions.

Question

What steps her Department has taken to ensure that (a) farmers and (b) food producers in Wales can benefit from the UK-Japan comprehensive economic partnership agreement.

Answer from Greg Hands

The UK-Japan CEPA will benefit farmers and food producers in Wales through lower tariffs than would have been the case without an agreement. It also allows more UK goods to access preferential tariffs than under the EU-Japan agreement, thanks to new rules of origin. New protections for more iconic Welsh food products may also be possible, including for Welsh lamb and coracle-caught sewin.

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Q2 Fay Jones
Business & Trade
Context

Twelve Welsh geographical indicators have been protected under the UK-Japan CEPA. This supplementary question aims to seek assurances about the protection of these products in future trade agreements, particularly those involving the US and Australia.

Question

Twelve Welsh geographic indicator products have been protected in the UK-Japan deal on which I warmly congratulate the Department. I am particularly pleased to hear the Minister mention Welsh lamb. Can he reassure me that those products will be respected and protected in future trade deals, particularly with the US and Australia?

Answer from Greg Hands

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There is the potential inclusion of around 70 geographic indicators, 12 of which are from Wales—she is quite right—including Welsh beef, Welsh lamb, Welsh wine, cider, perry, Caerphilly cheese, Carmarthen ham and others. One of our key objectives is to be able to sell Welsh lamb into the United States—British lamb overall is not currently allowed into the United States—but we will be fighting to get an improvement in Welsh lamb exports around the globe.

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