Source · Select Committees · Welsh Affairs Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Paragraph: 11
We are satisfied that the UK Government has sufficiently engaged with the Welsh Government during...
Conclusion
We are satisfied that the UK Government has sufficiently engaged with the Welsh Government during the consultation phase for the UK-Australia free trade agreement. However, given that trade agreements overlap with areas of devolved competence, we suggest that the Welsh Government should have access to the draft treaty text prior to publication. This would enable the Welsh Government to provide feedback on regional and local impacts to inform the UK Government’s impact assessment and to produce its own impact assessment.
Paragraph Reference:
11
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The UK Government is responsible for negotiating international trade agreements on behalf of all the constituent nations and regions in the UK. DIT recognises that modern trade agreements interact with areas of devolved competence and that the DAs have an interest across a wide range of areas. DIT has created engagement structures at all levels to ensure a constructive approach to working with the DAs. These include the quarterly Ministerial Forum for Trade, regular bilateral ministerial meetings, the six-weekly Senior Officials Group, Chief Negotiator calls running parallel to negotiation rounds, six-weekly chapter-specific policy roundtables and weekly working level engagement. During our negotiation sprint with Australia, senior officials from DIT increased their frequency of meetings with their DA counterparts. The Minister for Trade Policy has also discussed the FTA with his DA counterparts and will continue to do so, including through the Ministerial Forum for Trade. We have also committed–and delivered on the commitment–to sharing FTA draft treaty text with the devolved administrations prior to any signature with our trading partners. We also shared an embargoed copy of the final Treaty text and the economic Impact Assessment.