Government has taken further action to help secure the UK's
supplies of critical goods such as medicines and smartphone chips
with the launch of a new Critical Imports Council today (17
April).
The Council is made up of 23 industry leaders and brings together
expertise from business, academia and government to advise on
securing resilience in supply chains for items critical to the
UK's economic prosperity, national security and essential
services.
It builds on the Government's first-of-its-kind Critical Imports
and Supply Chains Strategy, launched in January, and will allow
business and government to work together in implementing the
Strategy's 18 actions – ensuring businesses have a central voice
in shaping government's work to build supply chain resilience.
The events of recent years have shown the world we cannot afford
to take for granted the resilience of the global supply chains we
rely on for our critical imports. Recent attacks in the Red Sea,
the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, and
environmental disasters have all demonstrated the potential
impact of global events on the reliable flow of vital goods.
Imported goods are crucial to our economy. They ensure lower
prices, greater choice, and help businesses to be more
productive. They also enable innovation, drive growth, and are
essential to the UK's world-leading industries, from aerospace to
life sciences.
Business and Trade Minister and Chair of the Critical
Import Council Alan Mak said:
“It's never been more important to strengthen our supply chains
and make sure vital goods can continue reaching consumers, in the
face of the pandemic, the Red Sea attacks and many other crises
around the world.
“That's why we're now going even further to strengthen our
critical goods supplies with the launch of this new Council,
which will bring together government and industry experts to help
protect businesses from supply chain shocks now and in the
future.”
Leading UK businesses including Rolls-Royce and Johnson Matthey
will sit on the Council to help the UK develop resilient and
secure supply chains that protect both business and the consumers
who rely on them.
The Council will work with government to tackle the supply
challenges businesses face and develop real-life solutions.
Meeting quarterly, they will collaborate on emerging supply chain
risks and identify the support UK businesses need to reduce
vulnerabilities in supply chains – including how we use our
overseas network in more than 100 countries to connect with new
suppliers.
The Department for Business and Trade will also create a new
online portal where businesses can report red tape or supply
chain problems, allowing work to start on resolving the issues
quickly.
Andy Walker, Technology Director at Johnson Matthey
said:
“Supply chain resilience of critical goods is essential for
Johnson Matthey, so it's great to be part of the Critical Imports
Council, in which government, industry and academia will work
together to agree the best approaches to implement actions
identified within the Critical Imports and Supply Chains
Strategy.”
Rhett Hatcher, CEO of UK Chamber of
Shipping said:
“As an island nation the UK relies on shipping to deliver its
energy, food and medical supplies with billions of pounds worth
of imports each year.
“In an unpredictable world, it is vital that the UK
government acts to improve the UK's resilience to
global supply chains shocks. The establishment of this Council is
an important step and will enable us to work together to
tackle our collective challenges.
“I look forward to joining other leaders from across our supply
chains, government and academia to ensure that we have
robust UK supply chains helping our economic prosperity, national
security and essential services.”
Richard Torbett, ABPI Chief Executive,
said:
“Supporting and safeguarding the resilient supply of medicines
and vaccines to the NHS is critical to the wider health and
wealth of UK citizens, which is why the work of the Government's
new Critical Imports Council is so important.
“I look forward to working with others to maintain and further
improve the UK's robust and responsive medicines supply.”
The Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy will enable
government to share vital information and guidance with
businesses on the risks to key supply chains and the practical
steps they can take to protect themselves from disruption,
including regular updates on emerging supply chain risks, such as
new export bans on critical everyday goods imposed by other
countries.
Please see below the full list of members attending
today's Critical Imports Council:
- ADS Group
- Association of British Healthtech Industries
- Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
- BAE Systems
- BASF
- British Chambers of Commerce
- British Generic Manufacturers Association
- BT
- Chemical Business Association
- Cranfield School of Management
- Critical Minerals Association
- Institute of Export and International Trade
- Tech UK
- Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining
- Johnson Matthey
- Logistics UK
- Make UK
- Maritime UK
- Renewable UK
- Rolls-Royce
- Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT)
- UK Chambers of Shipping
- UK Trade Policy Observatory
