Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

Thursday 14 September 2023 · 3 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

  • John Martin McDonnell questioned the Government about the ISDS provisions in the CPTPP and asked if they would negotiate a side letter with Canada to disapply these provisions.
  • The Secretary of State stated that the Government is focused on ratifying the protocol and does not foresee making changes to the agreement.
  • Martin Vickers inquired about the Department's plans to inform UK companies about the opportunities presented by the CPTPP.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 John Martin McDonnell Lab Hayes and Harlington
Business & Trade
Context

The UK has signed the CPTPP accession protocol but needs to ratify it. The MP raises concerns about investor-state dispute settlement provisions allowing corporations to sue national governments.

Question

I thank the Secretary of State for her response. The CPTPP contains ISDS provisions which allow corporations to sue national Governments through a secretive system if they consider that Government policies threaten their future profits. Will the Government consider negotiating a side letter with Canada, as they already have with New Zealand and Australia, to disapply the ISDS provisions in order to ensure the UK Government's right to regulate is not constrained by powerful investors and corporations?

Answer from Kemi Badenoch

We are now trying to ratify the protocol. The Government have always been clear that when we negotiate investment protection, we do so in a way that does not hinder our right to regulate in the public interest. We already have investment agreements containing ISDS provisions with seven of the 11 CPTPP countries and we have never received a successful claim from any investors.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Negotiating a side letter with Canada to disapply ISDS provisions was not addressed specifically

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Q2 John Martin McDonnell Lab Hayes and Harlington
Brexit Foreign Affairs Business & Trade
Context

The UK has signed the CPTPP accession protocol but needs to ratify it. The MP raises concerns about investor-state dispute settlement provisions allowing corporations to sue national governments.

Question

The Government's programme allows corporations, through ISDS provisions, to sue national Governments if they consider that policies threaten their future profits. Will the Government negotiate a side letter with Canada to disapply these provisions in order to ensure the UK Government's right to regulate is not constrained?

Answer from Kemi Badenoch

We have passed the stage where we will be making any changes; we are now trying to ratify the protocol. The right hon Gentleman should be reassured: the Government have always been clear that when we negotiate investment protection, we do so in a way that does not hinder our right to regulate in the public interest.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Negotiating a side letter with Canada was not addressed specifically

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Q3 Martin Vickers Con Brigg and Immingham
Business & Trade
Context

The UK has signed the CPTPP accession protocol but needs to ratify it. The MP asks about plans to inform UK companies of opportunities under the agreement.

Question

I congratulate my right hon Friend on the progress made with CPTPP. Can she outline what plans the Department has to make UK companies aware of the opportunities that the agreement opens up for them?

Answer from Kemi Badenoch

We would like to ensure people are aware of the opportunities from all our free trade agreements. Our export commission and support service in the Department for Business and Trade will carry out this task, and we will also be supporting MPs during International Trade Week to highlight these opportunities.

Answered
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