The International Trade Committee examines the impact assessments
for the Australia and New Zealand trade
deals with top Government economists and experts at
10am on Wednesday 23 March.
In the first panel, MPs will quiz the Chief Economist at the
Department for International Trade (DIT) and members of
independent watchdog the Regulatory Policy Committee on the
purpose of the impact assessments and their underlying economic
modelling.
MPs are likely to use the session to explore how the headline
conclusions of the impact assessments were obtained and whether
they are reliable. This is likely to include consideration of the
impact on the UK economy and the environment.
In the second panel, MPs seek expert views on the economic
modelling informing the assessments, how much certainty is
attached to it, and how DIT’s approach to modelling could be
improved.
The Impact Assessment for the
Australia agreement estimates that by 2035 UK annual GDP
could increase by 0.08%, or £2.3 billion per year. The New Zealand deal’s Impact
Assessment estimates an annual GDP increase of 0.03%, or
around £800 million per year.
Witnesses
Committee Room 15, Palace of Westminster:
10am
-
, Chief Economist,
Department for International Trade
- Tammy Holmes, Deputy Director, Trade Agreements Analysis,
Department for International Trade
- Stephen Gibson, Chair, Regulatory Policy Committee
- Dr Jonathan Cave, Member, Regulatory Policy Committee
11am
- Professor Tony Venables, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford
University
- Professor Joe Francois, Professor of International Economics,
University of Bern
