Moved by
Lord Stevenson of Balmacara
12: After Clause 5, insert the following new Clause—
“Parliamentary approval of trade agreements
(1) Negotiations towards a free trade agreement may not commence until the Secretary of State has laid a draft negotiating mandate before the appropriately constituted Committee and it has been approved by—
(a) resolution of that Committee, and
(b) a resolution of both Houses of Parliament.
(2) Prior to the draft negotiating mandate being laid, the Secretary of State must have consulted with each devolved administration on the content of the draft negotiating mandate.
(3) Prior to considering a resolution approving a mandate relating to the negotiation of a free trade agreement, the Committee must produce a sustainability impact assessment.
(4) Before either House of Parliament may approve by resolution the text of a proposed free trade agreement, the Secretary of State must lay the text of the proposed agreement before the Committee and that text must be approved by a resolution of that Committee.
(5) Prior to the laying of the text of the proposed agreement, the Secretary of State must have consulted with each devolved administration on the text of the proposed agreement.
(6) Prior to considering a resolution approving the text of a free trade agreement under subsection (4), the Committee must produce a report setting out a recommendation in relation to the ratification of the agreement.
(7) The Secretary of State must lay the report produced under subsection (6) before both Houses of Parliament.
(8) Schedule (Committee on Trade Agreements) contains further provision about the reports under subsection (6).
(9) A free trade agreement may not be ratified unless the agreement has been laid before, and approved by an amendable resolution of, both Houses of Parliament.
(10) The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 is amended as follows.
(11) At the end of section 25(2) insert “, or a treaty containing a free trade agreement as defined in section (Parliamentary approval of trade agreements) of the Trade Act 2019.”
(12) In this section, “free trade agreement” refers to any agreement between the United Kingdom and one or more partners that includes components that facilitate the trade of goods, services or intellectual property including but not limited to—
(a) Free Trade Agreements (FTA) as defined by section 8;
(b) Interim Association Agreements, Association Agreements (AA);
(c) Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA);
(d) Interim Partnership Agreements;
(e) Stabilisation and Association Agreements (SAA);
(f) Global Agreements (GA);
(g) Economic Area Agreements (EAA);
(h) Cooperation Agreements (CA);
(i) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreements (CETA);
(j) Association Agreements with strong trade component;
(k) Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnerships (TTIP);
(l) Investment Protection Agreements.”