Plans for a "Bonfire of the Barriers" to boost trade

Today, the International Trade Secretary announced plans to lift over 100 trade barriers, unlocking export opportunities worth tens of billions of pounds.  

  • Businesses which export pay higher wages and are more productive than businesses who do not, but too often, complex trade rules and practical obstacles prevent them selling overseas. 
  • That is why we have drawn up plans for negotiations to resolve around 100 priority trade barriers, unlocking export opportunities worth more than £20 billion for businesses across our United Kingdom. 
  • This bonfire of barriers will allow world-leading UK goods and services to reach hundreds of millions of new customers around the world, boosting business growth and supporting local jobs.

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

"Every week we remove trade barriers somewhere around the world, helping more and more businesses all over the country.

We know that businesses who export pay higher wages and are more productive than businesses who do not, but too often, complex trade rules and practical obstacles prevent them selling overseas.

This bonfire of the barriers will grow our economy by allowing our brilliant businesses to satisfy the enormous global appetite for their goods and services."


Unlocking new markets and global customers means more opportunities for UK firms to grow their businesses and support local jobs. That is why Britain is working hard on getting rid of barriers, including:

  • Opening the Chinese market for UK lamb for the first time, unlocking markets worth £1.5bn which would help businesses such as Pilgrims Lamb UK.
  • South Korea removing restrictions on UK beef for the first time, opening up markets worth £2.5bn – this is expected to be resolved within the next five years and could benefit businesses such as Northern Ireland based Foyle Food Group.
  • Removing delays in registering new medicines and medical devices in South Africa helping to increase the UK’s exports as well as improving healthcare availability and quality.

The UK gained greater freedom to remove trade barriers, along with the ability to negotiate its own Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), when it left the European Union. FTAs are securing new and substantial opportunities for UK businesses, and the work goes hand in hand with tackling trade barriers facing our firms today.


The Department of Trade has supported the resolution of around 400 barriers, across more than 70 countries, in the last two years. These included:

  • Working with Chinese authorities to remove animal testing requirements for many beauty products in China, opening up a market worth £500m and helping brands such as Unilever’s cruelty-free REN brand to import into China for the first time.
  • Overcoming bureaucratic issues to allow the export of pet supplements to India worth £1.4m to Lancashire-based VetPlus over five years.
  • A simplified process for certifying UK cosmetics to Indonesia.
  • Unblocking difficult processes in Mongolia which prevented the export of UK poultry and fish, opening up a market worth £10m, helping Moy Park, a poultry exporter, to supply chicken to KFC Mongolia.

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