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Businesses across the UK will have better access and more support to international trade markets with plans to lift more than 400 trade barriers.
In a speech to the British Chambers of Commerce, International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the Government is launching a new drive to demolish bureaucratic barriers to international trade, opening up markets worth tens of billions for businesses across the UK.
Ms Trevelyan said the government has drawn up a hit list of around 100 priority issues around the world currently blocking British trade, which are being targeted for resolution by teams of specialists in her department.
These range from restrictions on UK-qualified lawyers from operating in Japan, to rules that delay British medical devices from entering South Africa, to restrictions on meat exports to countries in Asia.
The work will allow our world-leading products and services to reach hundreds of millions of new customers globally, benefitting all regions of the UK, Secretary Trevelyan will tell the British Chambers of Commerce’s annual conference.
“We know that businesses who export pay higher wages and are more productive than businesses who do not, but too often, complex trade rules and practical obstacles prevent them selling overseas,” she said.
“This bonfire of the barriers will grow our economy by allowing our brilliant businesses to satisfy the enormous global appetite for their goods and services.
“Unlocking new markets and global customers means more opportunities for UK firms to grow their businesses and support local jobs. That is why we are working hard on getting rid of barriers.”
Some of those barriers include:
The UK gained greater freedom to remove trade barriers, along with the ability to negotiate its own Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), when it left the European Union. FTAs are securing new and substantial opportunities for UK businesses, and the work goes hand in hand with tackling trade barriers facing our firms today.
The department has supported the resolution of around 400 barriers, across more than 70 countries, in the last two years.
These included: