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Export Controls

Asked by Andrew GriffithConservativeDepartment for Business and TradeTabled Answered 5 February 2026UIN 110112

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of regulatory divergence from the EU on UK exporters since July 2024, broken down by sector and by firm size.

Answered by Chris Bryant

No, we will not be making such a precise assessment, but the EU is our closest partner and biggest trading market and we are committed to making trade easier by removing unnecessary barriers to trade. To date, many UK regulations continue to align in the main with EU regulations. We are aware that EU divergence is an important issue for many UK exporters to the EU. We continue to monitor potential instances of divergence and undertake assessments on a case-by-case basis.

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