Russia blocks UK's proposed post-Brexit trade quotas

Russia and a number of other members of the World Trade Organisation have moved to block Britain from inheriting the terms it held with the organisation under the EU.

About 20 members of the WTO, which is comprised of 164 member states and is based in Geneva, raised objections to the UK’s post-Brexit trade proposals last night as the nation moves to establish itself as an independent member.

Russian objections stem from its insistence that full scheduling arrangements must be followed as the EU's list has not been ratified by all states since the 2013 accession of Croatia.

Theresa May’s government had proposed an agreement that would effectively have replicated its share of the EU’s imported quota, which is the limit on the amount of goods which can be traded between members before trade becomes subject to steep tariffs.

In the event of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit, Britain’s trade with the EU would rely on WTO rules.

New Zealand and the US are among the nations to have issues with the UK’s proposals, but are not thought to have objected last night.

David Henig, a former assistant director at the trade department, said: “This is another case of the government being too optimistic. Welcome to trade reality.”

However, the department for international trade moved to calm worries over the issue, commenting that it was “not uncommon” for objections to be made and that there were “well established processes” for resolving such disputes.