To boost trade links, the UK is cutting import taxes on hundreds more products from poor countries.

The Developing Countries Trading Scheme enters into force in January and builds on a scheme the UK participated in while still a member of the EU.

Tariffs will be reduced or eliminated on goods such as clothes, shoes, and food that is not widely produced in the UK.

65 developing countries are covered by the scheme.

Additionally, it will affect around 99% of goods imported from Africa, on top of the thousands of products that developing nations can already export to the UK tariff-free.

Using trade to “drive prosperity and eradicate poverty”, as well as reduce dependency on aid, is part of a more comprehensive drive by the UK Department for International Trade.

Under the scheme, a country can be suspended for human rights and labor violations, as well as for not meeting its climate change obligations.

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “As an independent trading nation, we are taking back control of our trade policy and making decisions that back UK businesses, help with the cost of living, and support the economies of developing countries around the world.”

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