Written evidence on trade governance for the APPG on Trade and Export Promotion

Emily Jones, Director of the Global Economic Governance Programme, submitted written evidence to the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group on Trade and Export Promotion. The written evidence highlights three areas of UK trade policy: parliamentary scrutiny, engagement with devolved administrations and stakeholder consultation. Drawing on the experiences of other countries, Emily's recommendations include:

• Introducing more effective parliamentary scrutiny over trade policy by granting MPs greater access to negotiating texts (including the right to debate and vote on trade agreements), and a mechanism for Parliament to scrutinise the implementation of the UK-EU agreement.
• Giving devolved administrations the statutory right to co-determine the negotiating mandate in areas of devolved competence and fully participate in negotiations on issues that lie within these areas.
• Strengthening stakeholder consultation and stakeholder engagement by conducting an independent review of the current composition of stakeholder mechanisms and the use of confidentiality agreements, creating a public engagement strategy, and a statutory obligation for government to publish a range of documents to better inform the public debate.