Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent progress has been made on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

The thirteenth round of negotiations for the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) took place between 20 and 24 April in New York. The next negotiating round is due to take place in July. We are making progress and our ambition remains to reach a political agreement during the Obama presidency.

The UK is working for an ambitious agreement that removes remaining tariffs between the EU and US, cuts the regulatory and bureaucratic barriers faced by our exporters without lowering our standards, and opens up opportunities for our businesses to compete for public procurement. We want a deal that is good for businesses of all sizes and for consumers.

In addition to the potential £10 billion annual benefit to the UK, TTIP provides an opportunity for the EU and US to shape the rules and standards for the global business environment.