My Lords, I shall speak to Amendment 16 in my name, which similarly requests a report on data. I thank the noble Lords, Lord Clement-Jones and Lord Stevenson of Balmacara, for their support. I in turn support Amendment 15 in their names on intellectual property. This is an issue on which we have worked together over many years, and of course the Minister, my noble friend Lord Younger, is something of an expert on IP, so I am hopeful of making progress and look forward to his response.
Our amendment on data is possibly even more important than that on IP, if that is possible. Data is like the electricity on which it depends: it allows everything to work and permits communication and analysis across the world. Data flow now underlies almost every aspect of our lives from financial services to the food supply chain, from defence to the music industry. The cloud is everywhere; it has made some people very rich, and has radically changed the market valuations of the world’s companies—here I refer to my own registered interests.
However, unlike IP where there are well-established international frameworks and bodies, in data there is inadequate international alignment of standards, and that has led to disputes between the EU and the US, as I know only too well as a former Minister with responsibility for data. The combination of the GDPR and the European Court ruling on Schrems caused huge problems that we solved with the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework. Led by my right honourable friend Matt Hancock and my noble friend Lord Ashton of Hyde, who is now of course our esteemed Chief Whip, we put the GDPR and associated changes on to the UK statute book so that the UK would be declared equivalent to the EU and data could continue to flow after EU exit. We still await clarity on that equivalence decision, which is important to many sectors and is a matter of much concern to the EU Scrutiny Committee on which I have the pleasure of sitting.
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However, more important for today and even more worrying, is another very significant ruling on 16 July 2020 by the European court. It ruled that the privacy shield failed to limit access to data by US authorities
“in a way that satisfies requirements that are essentially equivalent to those required under EU law.”
It seems that we are in a mess, and that that will have implications for any trade agreement between the UK and the US if we also want a free trade agreement with the European Union, as many noble Lords and I do. I welcome the Minister’s thoughts on how we get out of this hole.
At the same time, I thank our exuberant International Trade Secretary, Liz Truss, for arranging for me to talk to our experts on another relevant issue. This was possible clashes between the data provisions in the Japan agreement —on which I heartily congratulate the Government—and those in the draft EU free trade agreement and other possible free trade agreements under negotiation. I found that discussion reassuring and would be delighted if the Minister could put some of the department’s reflections on the public record, either in winding up or in a follow-up letter, ahead of Report.
On IP, the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, a great expert in his field, has said almost all that needs to be said. IP underpins a huge part of our service-based economy and matters to manufacturing too. Think of patents, brands or trademarks. It is vital that we do not dilute our standards as part of our new or continuity trade agreements. I particularly highlight reciprocal rights of representation with the EU, US and others, design rights, copyright and effective enforcement of the IP rules we have both nationally and internationally. There are particular problem areas in enforcement, such as blocking pirate sites, which has already been mentioned and which was sadly not covered in the Japan FTA.
Rather than delay the Committee, I will follow up with some detailed points provided by the Alliance for Intellectual Property. It works tireless to support the work of the cross-party APPG for Intellectual Property, which has already been exploring some of these issues with the IPO. We will be looking for assurances before Report, especially on sorting out reciprocal rights of representation for trademark attorneys, both in any US trade agreement, if that could be achieved, and in relation to the EU and EEA, where we have a major problem. This will put a hard-working sector of UK professionals at serious risk and will occur, deal or no deal, when transition ends. Fortunately, provided the Government take early action here at home, this is soluble. I look forward to the Minister’s response to these various amendments and the chance for early discussion.