Role of Parliament in Trade Deals (UK)

This blog does not focus on trade. However, I get asked a lot of questions about how the agreements made by the government under its royal prerogative to make trade deals, are in practice scrutinised.

The UK trade policy observatory has written this useful blog on the subject here.

You can read there that the UK Parliament does not have a formal role. Although, in practice the government has taken to publishing trade objectives, and holding a limited parliamentary debate on them.

UK-US FTA

US – the USTR publishes its trade objectives (Feb 2019) – here.

UK – the UK publishes its trade objectives (April 2020) – here.

In practice, the UK-US FTA has not progressed. Mini-trade deals are also not agreed.

UK-US Free Trade Agreement (UK)

UPDATE : The UK side is being led by Department for International Trade (DIT)’s Oliver Griffiths.

The US is being led by assistant trade representative Daniel Mullaney.

—

Tuesday (tomorrow) sees the long awaited start of trade talks between the UK and the US. These talks are conducted on the UK side by its Department for International Trade. The International Trade Secretary Liz Truss will hold an initial video call with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, with around 100 officials listening in from both sides. This first round will take two weeks, with further rounds approximately every six weeks.

The UK negotiating objectives are here. These objectives were informed by the results of public consultation.

The US negotiating objectives are here.

UK-US Free Trade Agreement (UK)

The UK government has this morning set out its long awaited objectives for its proposed trade agreement with the United States.

The policy paper is here.

The objectives are set out on pages 9 to 12.

Of relevance to this Blog are the following objectives – to

• remove and prevent trade-restrictive measures in goods markets, while upholding the safety and quality of products on the UK market,

• seek arrangements to make it easier for UK manufacturers to have their products tested against US rules in the UK before export,

• promote the use of international standards, to further facilitate trade between the parties,

• uphold the UK’s high levels of public, animal, and plant health, including food safety,

• enhance access for UK agri-food goods to the US market by seeking commitments to improve the timeliness and transparency of US approval processes for UK goods,

• improve trade flows by ensuring a transparent, predictable, and stable regulatory framework to give con dence and stability to UK exporting businesses and investors,

• secure commitments to key provisions such as public consultation, use of regulatory
impact assessment, retrospective review, and transparency, as well as regulatory co-operation.