Britain says Brexit won’t create legal vacuum at WTO

British Trade Secretary Liam Fox promised on Tuesday (September 27) Britain’s departure from the European Union would not create a legal vacuum at the World Trade Organization, and said the country was determined to champion free trade.

Britain is a full and founding member of the WTO, but its membership terms are currently shared with the rest of the EU, Fox told a WTO conference in Geneva.

“The UK will continue to uphold these commitments when we leave the European Union. There will be no legal vacuum. But this will not stop us pursuing a more liberalised trade agenda in the future,” he said, adding:

“The decision of the British people to leave the European Union is not symptomatic of a people looking inward, but a people who want to make more control of our laws, our money, and our borders.”

Fox’s appearance at the WTO, his first since the Brexit referendum on June 23, created a rare buzz among trade diplomats in Geneva, while markets were bracing in case Britain committed itself to a disruptive “hard Brexit” scenario.

But Fox did not reveal new details about how Britain planned to manage its exit from the EU, and left for talks with European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom without taking questions.