Parliament’s International Trade Committee has launched an inquiry into the Government’s approach to trade with developing countries.
We reported in July that the Department for International Trade (DIT) was seeking views on proposed changes to the trade preference scheme which reduces or removes import tariffs for 70 such countries (see UK trade preferences scheme for developing nations).
With developing nations representing two-thirds of the membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Committee has decided to investigate whether the Government has an appropriate trade strategy in place regarding those countries.
Chairman Angus Brendan MacNeil said: “Importantly, we will also look at how the Government can avoid potential harm to developing countries arising from trade agreements with other developed countries. We look forward to hearing from businesses, the public, civil society groups, academics and other stakeholders on this important topic.”
The UK currently grants preferential trade terms to some developing countries under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) scheme, inherited from the EU. This means that developing countries can trade certain goods with the UK without tariffs, subject to meeting certain conditions.
The Government has announced its intention to replace the GSP with a new UK-specific Developing Countries Trading Scheme in 2022.
The Committee will investigate how this scheme will work in practice, and what the implications of the change will be for developing countries, as well as UK and international businesses and the public.
