Development and trade

The changes in the machinery of government, announced in June 2007, led to this assessment of the place of the Department for International Development (DFID) in trade policy structures and how this area could be best managed across government. The inquiry also followed up on the report 'Conflict and development: peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction' (HC 923-I 2005-06) and the responsibility of the former Department of Trade and Industry in relation to the regulation of activities of UK companies operating in developing countries. Although the reaction to the changes in the machinery of government are broadly positive, there are reservations about complexity, unclear lines of accountability and new layers of bureaucracy. The increase in the number of DFID ministers is welcomed but there are concerns that the brief of the Trade Policy Minister might be too wide.