The food industry has called for a stronger exports focus from the the government after it merged the international trade and business departments this week.
The Food & Drink Federation said it welcomed the creation of a department that put “business and trade at the heart of Whitehall thinking” – but it called for better exports policies and more robust border processes.
FDF Head of International Trade Dominic Goudie said helping businesses expand exports was ”key to unlocking productivity growth and kickstarting the economy” as British food & drink continued to see “growing demand around the world”.
“Our ability to boost export growth is inextricably linked to our access to essential imports, so it is vital that the new department helps drive improvements in the operation of UK borders, while guarding against new regulation that risks acting as a barrier to investment and trade,” Goudie said.
Current secretary of state for international trade Kemi Badenoch is to head the new Department for Business and Trade as a result of Rishi Sunak’s merger of the DIT and BEIS.
Cold Chain Federation CEO Shane Brennan said the success of businesses across the UK’s economy relied on “a successful international trade policy, not just the free trade deals we strike but the way we manage the day-to-day challenges of doing business and competing across borders”.
He added he was looking forward to work with Badenoch in her new role as Business and Trade Secretary “to ensure that UK cold chain is a gateway to trade opportunities for businesses in the UK and across the world”.
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The current DIT was set up by Theresa May in the follow-up to the Brexit vote in 2016 to help boost the UK’s global trade relationships as well as secure new free trade agreements.
The Institute of Export & International Trade said the merger of the trade and business departments was “an opportunity to better integrate exports within the wider UK growth strategy”.
However, director general Marco Forgione argued there needed to be “a focus on doing what is best to stimulate growth in the economy through international trade” because businesses trading abroad “have been proven to grow quicker and become more profitable”.
“We’ve previously called for there to be a cross-departmental taskforce focused on driving UK exports, as well as a minister dedicated to maximising the opportunities of an independent, digital-first border strategy,” Forgione said.
“This merger should be the opportunity to set these wheels in motion.”
Badenoch signed an export and investment partnership with Italy, the first of its kind with a European Union member since Brexit, earlier this week.
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