Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

Thursday 20 January 2022 · 5 questions

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

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Progress has been made in negotiations towards UK membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, with the goal of concluding them by the end of the year.
  • The agreement is seen as a significant opportunity to reshape international trade, benefiting UK businesses and opening up an 8.4 trillion market.
  • The UK government emphasizes that new trading partnerships can provide future growth opportunities, particularly in high-skilled tech sectors where wages are significantly higher than the national average.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Mary Robinson Con
Business & Trade
Context

The question arises from the ongoing negotiations for UK membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Question

What progress has been made on securing UK membership of the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership?

Answer from Penny Mordaunt

We have made good progress in negotiations and we hope to have concluded them by the end of this year.

Answered
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Q2 Steven Baker Con
Business & Trade
Context

The question focuses on the opportunities presented by CPTPP for reshaping international trade, particularly highlighting its potential to benefit British businesses like Oxford Instruments.

Question

Is CPTPP not now one of the greatest opportunities we have to reshape the basis of international trade, to the benefit of not only the whole UK and the world, but great British businesses such as Oxford Instruments in Wycombe?

Answer from Penny Mordaunt

I thank my hon. Friend for the work he is doing to champion his local businesses. He is right: it is an £8.4 trillion market that we are opening up. However, this is about not only the economic benefits, but the benefits of those closer trading ties to enable people to work on problems that we are all facing around the world, in tech, the environment, healthcare and other sectors.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer discusses broader benefits without addressing the specific ask about economic opportunities for British businesses.

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Q3 Mary Robinson Con
Employment Business & Trade
Context

The question addresses the potential of CPTPP to open up markets for high-skilled, well-paid work in northern unicorn start-ups.

Question

Many people in Cheadle work in the tech sector, where jobs in digital, HealthTech and FinTech provide high-skilled, well-paid work. Given the high rate of northern unicorn start-ups, does my right hon. Friend agree that new trading partnerships can open up markets for future growth and for levelling up in the north?

Answer from Penny Mordaunt

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; the pay for people working in those sectors is about 50% higher than the UK average, so the more jobs we can create in those growth sectors, the better. I thank her for the work she is doing to champion her local businesses and expand those opportunities for her constituents.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer acknowledges the importance of high-skilled work without committing to the specifics about CPTPP's role in market opening or economic growth.

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Q4 Angus MacNeil SNP
Brexit Business & Trade
Context

The question examines the potential risk to UK patent attorneys' membership of the European Patent Organisation due to CPTPP.

Question

For every £490 of Brexit damage, CPTPP should recover about £8 of it, but that is at risk if the UK patent attorneys' membership of the European Patent Organisation is undermined or removed. At the moment, UK patent attorneys, who represent about a fifth of the patent attorneys in Europe, deal with a third of the patents of Europe. What assessment has been made by the Government of the damage that could be done to them through CPTPP and will that assessment be published so that they will know?

Answer from Penny Mordaunt

CPTPP is not doing damage and our accession to it is opening up markets. I work closely with all kinds of professional bodies, including those looking at patents, intellectual property and so forth. These are key sectors where we want to break down barriers to trade.

Not addressed: The answer does not address the specific ask about assessment or publication of risks.

How: Change Of Subject

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Q5 Kerry McCarthy Lab Bristol East
Business & Trade Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The question concerns the Government's approach to maintaining high environmental and welfare standards in future trade deals, as highlighted by the National Food Strategy.

Question

The national food strategy published last year said that to allow lower environmental and welfare standards in future trade deals would represent “an extraordinary failure of joined-up thinking”, yet that seems to be exactly the Government's approach. As we await the Government's White Paper in response to the national food strategy, what discussions is the Minister having with colleagues in other Departments to make sure that in that White Paper we firmly pin down that we will not accept lower standards?

Answer from Penny Mordaunt

As I have alluded to, as well as the economic benefits that we hope trade agreements will bring, they are about highlighting the fantastic food safety, quality and welfare standards of our local produce and are an opportunity to champion that. For example, on my recent visit to the United States I met the agriculture commissioners of every state and talked about the practices and values that sit behind what we do here in the UK.

Not addressed: The answer does not address the specific ask about discussions or no lowering of standards.

How: Change Of Subject

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