Scotland's Vision for Trade: annual report - October 2024

Future plans - key priorities for Year 4

In the coming year, we will act to support the following outcomes:

Economy – We will support our wider aims for the Scottish economy with a focused approach to improving the trading environment for businesses in Scotland, including by:

• Continuing to increase our level of engagement with business, in line with the aims of the New Deal for Business.
• Progressing collaborative work to resolve selected priority trade barriers.
• Using standards and regulation to improve the trading environment for business, in particular in relation to emerging sectors.
• Driving action on trade in services across the Scottish Government.

People – We will work to widen access to the opportunities from trade for people in Scotland, including by:

• Using evidence on the winners and losers from trade, such as the results of our trade modelling, to inform actions to support people in Scotland.
• Taking action to support the increased participation of women in trade, to benefit women and the economy. The results of our research into the gender export gap will underpin that work.
• Collaborating with the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy to inform policy to support access to the opportunities from trade for people in Scotland.

Planet – We will contribute to meeting climate ambitions and supporting human rights through our work on trade, including by:

• Consolidating our due diligence guidance on human rights.
• Supporting trade actions related to the green economy, such as the Hydrogen Sector Export Plan.

UK Government engagement – We will actively inform the UK Government’s trade policy to advocate for the interests of business and people in Scotland by:

• Representing Scotland’s interests in the UK FTA negotiations, including with the Gulf Cooperation Council, India, Israel, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland and Türkiye.
• Engaging constructively on the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement Review.
• Continuing to strengthen Scotland’s role at the WTO by inputting our priorities into the UK Government’s WTO policy.
• Working with the other UK administrations on areas not yet fully resolved in the published Border Target Operating Model.
• Working with the UK Government to manage and reduce the risk of trade disputes and strengthening engagement with the Trade Remedies Authority and industry stakeholders on trade remedies investigations.