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Select committee: European Affairs Committee

Letter from Graham Stuart MP, Minister of State for Europe, Government's response to the committee's report on Trade in goods

Published 20 July 2022

European Affairs Committee Trade in goods Report on parliament.uk ↗

At a glance

The government's response

This document responds to 4th Report - One year on—Trade in goods between Great Britain and the European Union.

This is the government's response, published 20 July 2022.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government says it is open to further steps to reduce trade friction with the EU, but not on the basis of alignment with EU rules, and that the TCA is working smoothly.

  • On SPS, it states that the UK "must retain its ability to make rules that work for us", and that EU negotiators "do not have a mandate to negotiate such an SPS agreement".
  • On customs cooperation, it says the TCA does not currently provide the legal basis for a joint customs office, and it is "not aware of any significant issues" that would warrant reopening the TCA's arrangements.
  • On SME support, it says the SME Brexit Support Fund was always intended to close on 30 June 2021 and that "There are no plans to extend the scheme". HMRC is reviewing the fund to see what can be learned.
  • On governance, it says TCA governance "is running smoothly" and that "All committees will meet again over the course of this year". It describes the Commission's linking of Union Programmes to the Northern Ireland Protocol as "deeply disappointing".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

Sources