Committees

Agreements with Kenya, Singapore and Canada reported for special attention

3 February 2021

The International Agreements Committee has published a report on international agreements with Kenya, Norway and Iceland, and Vietnam, and drawn the agreement with Kenya to the special attention of the House.

Last week, the Committee published its first report on international agreements as a new Select Committee. This report covered agreements with Singapore, Canada and Egypt, and the Committee drew the agreements with Singapore and Canada to the special attention of the House.

In drawing the Kenya Agreement to the special attention of the House, the Committee calls on the Government to publish a supplementary Explanatory Memorandum to explain what other options it considered for ensuring continuity trading arrangements with Kenya and why it chose not to replicate the EU’s Market Access Regulation. The Committee also calls on the Government to provide their assessment of the risks of the new Agreement and its impact on regional cohesion in East Africa.

To enable proper scrutiny, the Committee has requested that the 21-day scrutiny period provided for by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act be extended for this Agreement, so that the scrutiny period only ends after the additional information has been provided and a debate on the Agreement has taken place.

In drawing the Singapore and Canada Agreements to the special attention of the House, the Committee calls on the Government to keep the Committee updated on developments regarding the negotiations of further agreements with Singapore and, in the case of Canada, the re-negotiation of an enhanced free trade agreement.

Treaties

Reported for special attention:

  • Economic Partnership Agreement, done at London on 8 December 2020, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the one part, and the Republic of Kenya, a Member of the East African Community, of the other part
  • Free Trade Agreement, done at Singapore on 10 December 2020, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Singapore
  • Agreement, done at Ottawa on 9 December 2020, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Canada on Trade Continuity

Previous Committee

On 28 January 2021, the International Agreements Committee succeeded the EU International Agreements Sub-Committee. Previous reports on treaties considered by the Sub-Committee can be found on the Treaty page of the Parliament website at: https://treaties.parliament.uk/

Further information