- The Department for International Trade’s (DIT) has ensured that creating an open and transparent trade policy is at the heart of its mission for an inclusive trade agenda that maximises benefit for the whole of the UK. We recognise that transparency is fundamental to better outcomes.As part of this approach the Government have created the Strategic Trade Advisory Group (STAG) to seek informed views on relevant trade policy matters. The group will be composed of 16 core members from business to trade unions, consumer groups to non-governmental organisations (NGOs). It will be chaired by the Minister for Trade Policy, alongside a co-chair from the STAG. Membership of the group has been designed to represent a diverse range of interest and expertise from across the UK, allowing the Government to harness advice, insight and evidence from a wide range of experienced voices already actively involved in trade issues.The full list of seats includes:
Category
Name
Organisations/Area
Academia
Prof. Holger Breinlich
University of Surrey
Business Representative Organisation
Carolyn Fairbairn
Confederation of British Industry
Consumers (Standards)
Dr.Scott Steedman CBE
British Standards Institution
Consumers
Caroline Normand
Which?
Developmental Organisation
Dr. Dirk Willem te Velde
Overseas Development Institute
New Entrant Business
Mark Abrams
Trade Finance Global
Non-governmental Organisations
Michael Gidney
Fair Trade Foundation
Northern Ireland Business
Nick Coburn CBE
Ulster Carpets Group
Regional Business
Denise Valin Alvarez
Burberry
Scottish Business
Liz Cameron OBE
Scottish Chambers of Commerce
Services
Gary Campkin
City UK
Small and Medium Enterprise
Sean Ramsden
Ramsden International
Small and Medium Enterprise (Business Representative Organisations)
Mike Cherry OBE
Federation of Small Business
Think Tank
Sam Lowe
Centre for European Reform
Trade Unions
Paul Nowak
Trade Union Congress
Welsh Business
Prys Morgan
Kepak Group Limited
Members of the group were recruited through an open call for expressions of interest which ran from 18 July to 17 August 2018 followed by a two stage sift process against the published membership criteria. The selection process followed best practice principles to ensure a fair and transparent approach.As part of DITs ongoing commitment to transparency on trade issues, we will make dates of meetings, agendas and a summary of discussions publicly available.The groups will have an advisory function only and will be one part of the wider engagement structure the Government are putting in place to gather insight and intelligence from stakeholders.Another key component of our engagement infra- structure is cross-government Expert Trade Advisory Groups (ETAGs), which are being set up to facilitate expert technical policy exchanges on specific sector and thematic policy areas. Membership of the groups will vary according to the sector or policy area but will comprise relevant experts from the fields of academia, regulation, business and civil society.We are committed to seeking views from the widest range of stakeholder groups. In addition to the above formal structures we will continue to use a variety of mechanisms and engagement structures to ensure that our trade policy works for the whole of the UK.[HCWS1480]