Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Richard Lochhead on 31 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how it has applied its international trade principles and when it plans to publish the next Vision for Trade Annual Report.
I am pleased to announce that the third Annual Report on our progress towards implementing Scotland’s Vision for Trade is being published today and is available at: www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836019084
The Report sets out how the Scottish Government has applied its principles to international trade policy matters, covering the period from July 2023 – October 2024.
Since our last Annual Report, published in Summer 2023, we have taken a range of actions to improve the international trading environment for businesses in Scotland, including stepping up our direct engagement with the business community, supporting the resolution of individual market access barriers and using standards and regulation to support businesses. For example, we collaborated with the British Standards Institution on the introduction of a new voluntary whisky standard which empowers distillers in Scotland to trade internationally.
We are using our principles-based approach to trade to create more opportunities for people to participate in our economy, for example by gaining a better understanding of the cause, impact and potential measures to address the a clear gender export gap, whereby businesses led by women are less likely to export than those led by men.
The tragic events unfolding globally demonstrate why taking such a principles-based approach, with concern for human rights at its core, is so important.
Many trade levers sit with the UK Government, and we are committed to working constructively with the newly-elected UK Government in furthering our shared trade interests.