The Identity Assurance programme is at an early stage in development. The programme will be subjected to rigorous consultation and testing. Any relevant documents will be published when available.

The Identity Assurance programme is at an early stage in development. The programme will be subjected to rigorous consultation and testing. Any relevant documents will be published when available.

The Governments of both China and Vietnam participated at Ministerial level in the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade on 12 and 13 February 2014. They joined the other participating countries in agreeing to the London Conference Declaration. In this, Governments have committed to support the existing CITES commercial prohibition on international trade in elephant ivory until the survival of elephants in the wild is no longer threatened by poaching. They have also committed to taking a wide range of actions to reduce the demand for wildlife products, including ivory, and to agreeing for the first time to renounce the use of any products from species threatened with extinction. We very much welcome this strong signal by China and Vietnam of their commitment to join the rest of the international community in tackling the scourge of the illegal trade in ivory and other wildlife products.

In the margins of the Conference I had constructive meetings with both Forestry Vice Minister Jianlong Zhang of China and Deputy Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Ha Cong Tuan of Vietnam to discuss the impacts of the illegal wildlife trade and the action needed to tackle the problem. I hope to visit Vietnam in the near future to continue this constructive dialogue.

We will also fund two projects in Vietnam which applied through the 2013-2014 Darwin Initiative Funding Round, at a total cost of just over £0.5m. These will be supported from the £10m of new funding for tackling the illegal wildlife trade, announced on 23 December 2013 by the Secretaries of State for Environment and International Development. One project is focused on combating wildlife trafficking by cutting out the ‘middle man’. The other will support action to reduce demand for rhino horn.

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The European Commission leads on trade negotiations on behalf of the EU and its member states. The UK is a strong advocate of the EU’s ambitious trade agenda and has supported the pursuit of comprehensive trade agreements with several Commonwealth countries. Negotiations on free trade agreements with Canada and Singapore are close to finalisation, we are the EU’s strongest champion of a trade agreement with India, and a joint declaration between EU leaders and the Prime Minister of New Zealand last month paves the way to potential trade negotiations between the EU and New Zealand starting under the next European Commission.

The UK strongly supports economic partnership agreements (EPAs) between the EU and seven regions across Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific. EPAs are in place with Papua New Guinea, the Caribbean, Mauritius and Seychelles, and we are working towards further agreements in west, east and southern Africa which will include several Commonwealth members. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malawi and Nigeria are among the countries that benefit from trade preferences granted unilaterally

to developing countries by the EU. The UK argued strongly in favour of these, and as a result, Pakistan recently benefited from valuable additional EU trade access. In a move that promotes freer trade among Commonwealth members, the EU allows preferential market access to be retained even when production and processing is shared between developing countries.

The UK is also an active supporter of the Commonwealth Business Council which works to increase trade and prosperity across the Commonwealth.

What steps he is taking to promote trade opportunities for UK business in high-growth markets.

I congratulate Waste Spectrum and the Worcester ambassadors, and I thank my hon. Friend for his work to promote trade with China. I know he visited China with the trade mission and was involved with an inward delegation from China, and understand that he is planning to visit China again. We need to thank him for his work in promoting links with that particular country.

In export week, will the Minister congratulate Worcester firm Waste Spectrum, which is exactly one of those mid-sized companies that has recently achieved its first sale to China and will be dispatching one of its specially designed incinerators, built in Worcester, to that high-growth market at the end of this month?

I am sorry to hear that. If the hon. Lady lets me have the details, I will certainly ensure that that is followed up with UKTI. We have allocated a bigger budget to UKTI and it has sharpened its focus.

If there are improvements that we can make to the service that UKTI offers, I would be happy to consider them.

Yesterday I held a meeting with a range of British businesses on their experience of support for trade in India. They did not have a good story to tell about the signposting and advice of UK Trade & Investment and other agencies. Is the Minister concerned about UKTI’s budget plans and the support that it provides if the experience of British businesses is not positive?

I do not wholly agree with my hon. Friend. There are high-growth opportunities the world over, but the single market to which our businesses have access through our membership of the European Union is still an important part of our trading relationships.

Does the Minister agree that our future prosperity as a country depends on trading with China, India, south America and emerging economies in Africa—that is where all the future growth in the world economy will be—rather than being part of a backward-looking, inward-facing protection racket called the European Union?

In my capacity as Minister responsible for oil and gas, I am aware of the opportunities for developing the oil and gas fields off the Falklands. The hon. Gentleman will know that a considerable amount of initial exploration is taking place in the waters just to the north of the Falkland Islands, and of course we stand ready to help the Falkland Islands if that exploration can be turned into significant production.

It may not be a high-growth market, but we had a reception here last week that introduced the fishing, oil and construction opportunities in the Falkland Islands. Has the Minister had an opportunity to discuss those matters with the Falkland Islands to develop those areas and give job opportunities to people from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

UK Trade & Investment’s strategy confirms its continued focus on China, India and other high-growth markets, including some in Africa and central America. UKTI has identified more than 60 high-value opportunities in those markets, and with the help of our trade envoys, it promotes those opportunities to business. The £4 million announced by the Chancellor to support mid-sized businesses will enable UKTI to introduce such companies to those opportunities in high-growth markets.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions on behalf of the Minister for the Cabinet Office, asking for (1) the total amount of financial penalties collected in respect of breach of section 4 of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 and (2) what assessment he has made of the number of businesses in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency, who have incurred penalties under this section; in each of the last three years, for which figures are available (192496 and 192497).

The Statistics of Trade Act (STA) 1947 only extends to Great Britain encompassing England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland collects under the provisions of The Statistics of Trade and Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 1988.

The following table shows the total financial penalties incurred and the corresponding number of businesses penalised under the STA for the last three years:

No businesses in Scotland incurred penalties during 2011, 2012 and 2013.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions on behalf of the Minister for the Cabinet Office, asking for (1) the total amount of financial penalties collected in respect of breach of section 4 of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 and (2) what assessment he has made of the number of businesses in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency, who have incurred penalties under this section; in each of the last three years, for which figures are available (192496 and 192497).

The Statistics of Trade Act (STA) 1947 only extends to Great Britain encompassing England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland collects under the provisions of The Statistics of Trade and Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 1988.

The following table shows the total financial penalties incurred and the corresponding number of businesses penalised under the STA for the last three years:

No businesses in Scotland incurred penalties during 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Our immediate objective is to implement those elements of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) that were agreed at the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali in December last year. Trade facilitation, worth in itself almost half of the value of DDA, represents the bulk of the deal. This was accompanied by agreements in agriculture and development issues. The remaining elements of the DDA are agriculture, non-agricultural market access, and trade in services and we would like to move forward on all of these, although we cannot be sure of quick progress on all elements.