Import of Medical
Products
(Easington) (Lab)
12. What steps he is taking to expedite the import of essential
medical products during the Covid-19 outbreak. [902518]
(Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)
13. What steps he is taking to expedite the import of essential
medical products during the Covid-19 outbreak. [902543]
The Minister for Trade Policy ()
We continue to work tirelessly to secure vital supplies of
medical equipment from overseas partners to meet UK demand.
Hundreds of millions of units of PPE have been procured and over
2,000 ventilators have arrived in the UK thanks to our trade and
FCO networks.
[V]
Across the world, we are being advised to wash our hands with
soap regularly to keep us safe from the virus, but the average
import tariff on soap among WTO members stands at 17%, with some
countries charging tariffs of up to 65%. What steps has the
Minister taken to seek global agreement to reduce tariffs on the
import of soap and other hygiene products, to combat the spread
of covid-19?
That is a very good question and I thank the hon. Gentleman for
asking it. We are working tirelessly, at different international
fora, to ensure that trade barriers—either long-standing barriers
or ones that have been thrown up as a result of the crisis—are
reduced or removed. For example, just last month, at the UK’s
initiative, the G20 Trade Ministers met and discussed a lot of
these and took significant action. We have also been lobbying
bilaterally, most successfully, with India to ensure that such
barriers are reduced or removed.
[V]
It is shameful that our national stockpile of PPE dwindled during
years of austerity. The Government’s response since has been one
of confusion and panic—missing three chances to join the EU
scheme to bulk buy PPE, and with the recent fiasco of flying in
unusable gowns from Turkey. What discussions are Ministers having
with the Governments of New Zealand, Singapore and other WTO
countries to support global efforts to keep medical supply chains
running during and beyond this crisis?
We are extremely active at the WTO and other forums, including
the G20, to ensure that products flow. We have delivered 1.22
billion items of PPE to the NHS, which is a tremendous
achievement. That includes 40 million safety goggles and 1.3
billion face masks; the numbers are substantial. On the action
that we are taking at the WTO, we continue to lobby at all
levels. May I just correct the hon. Gentleman on one point—about
the delivery of 400,000 Turkish gowns? That number represents a
tiny proportion of the total, and only a tiny proportion of those
gowns were actually found to be defective. We are very thankful
to Turkish suppliers for what they have done.
Mr Speaker
It would be remiss of me not to welcome the right hon. Member for
Islington South and Finsbury () to her new role.
(Islington South and
Finsbury) (Lab)
Thank you, Mr Speaker. May I also thank my colleagues for asking
such vital questions about shortages of PPE and other essential
medical supplies?
One area where we have, thankfully, not seen shortages to date is
the supply of prescription medicines, thanks to the so-called
Brexit buffer of supplies built up in preparation for a no-deal
Brexit. But given that this buffer only provides somewhere
between three to six months of supplies, will the Minister tell
us how the Government are getting on with replenishing these
stocks from imports, so that we do not experience any shortages
once the Brexit buffer starts to run out?
I join the Secretary of the State in welcoming the right hon.
Lady to her position. After four years of the hon. Member for
Brent North (), we always look forward to
seeing somebody new at the Dispatch Box.
Again, we are active in all available forums to ensure that the
UK’s supply of prescription and non-prescription medicines
continues. For example, following the restrictions that India put
in place on 3 March, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State
has been very active with the Indian Trade Minister to get almost
all those restrictions removed. We will continue to be active
with all our trade partners to ensure that products continue to
flow to our NHS at this time.
