“Trade creates growth and helps lift millions out of poverty”
As trade is of immense importance to developing countries and to the UK alike, the Government brings Trade policy and development policy together in the DFID/BERR Trade Policy Unit (TPU).
Development has been at the heart of UK trade policy for the last ten years. TPU's challenge is to build on this and to continue calling for trade deals that are beneficial to both the UK and to poorer countries, while working towards our dual objectives of global poverty reduction and UK competitiveness and market access.
The following changes were introduced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2007:
• A new Cabinet Committee on trade was been created to give strategic direction and political oversight to UK trade policy, chaired by DFID’s Secretary of State Douglas Alexander.
• Gareth Thomas was appointed as the first ever joint Department for International Development (DFID)-BERR Minister for Trade Policy, in charge of trade policy and operational issues, trade negotiations and trade capacity-building.
• The joint DFID-BERR Trade Policy Unit (TPU) was set up, bringing together some 70 trade and development experts from the two Departments.
An organisation chart of the Trade Policy Unit is included in the related document links on the left of this page
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