The UK is planning to create a new body to clamp down on unfair trade practices after Brexit, a job advert on a government website has revealed.
Despite disagreement among cabinet ministers, Theresa May has said Britain will leave the EU's customs union when it exits the bloc, pursuing its own international trade deals instead.
This would see the government taking control of its own trade policy, which will involve the formation of a ‘UK Trade Remedies Organisation’, it appears.
In a job advert for a ‘digital design lead’ in the new organisation, the government wrote: 'We need to develop the UK's approach to tackling allegations of unfair competition and build the capability and capacity to investigate complaints and enforce the rules.”
It added: “One important aspect of operating an independent trade policy… is the ability to investigate and tackle incidents of unfair trade, such as dumped or subsidised imports, which threaten domestic industries and undermine the case for free and open trade.”
The new body, which would be part of the Department for International Trade, will have around 130 staff and be legislated for in the trade bill due to be introduced in parliament in September.
According to the advert, the organisation would need to be operational by October 2018 in order to take on new investigations that would otherwise be completed by the EU after the UK’s planned exit in March the following year.
