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WRITTEN STATEMENT
BY
THE WELSH GOVERNMENT
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TITLE
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The Official Controls (Extension of Transitional Periods) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 |
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DATE |
23 April 2024 |
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BY |
Huw Irranca-Davies Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs |
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Members of the Senedd will wish to be aware that I have given consent to the Minister of State exercising a subordinate legislation-making power in a devolved area in relation to Wales.
The Minister of State for Biosecurity, Animal Health and Welfare, Lord Douglas-Miller sought my agreement to make a Statutory Instrument (SI) titled the Official Controls (Extension of Transitional Periods) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (“the 2024 Regulations”) to apply in relation to the United Kingdom.
The above titled SI was made by the Minister of State, in exercise of the powers conferred under:
· paragraph 2 of Annex 6 to, Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products, and
· paragraph 11A of Schedule 2 to the Trade in Animals and Related Products Regulations 2011.
The purpose of the 2024 Regulations, in conjunction with the Official Controls (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2024 is to implement the second milestone of the TOM from 28 April 2024. The 2024 Regulations amend the Transitional Staging Period end date from 29th April 2024 to 31 January 2025 so the second stage of the TOM can begin from 30th April 2024.
We have not yet agreed with the UK and Scottish governments a date for physical checks to begin on imports from Ireland and have already announced that our facilities will not be operational until spring 2025 so a further extension to the transitional staging period will be required from the end of January 2025.
These Regulations also make England-only provisions in relation to
meat preparations. I have made similar amendments for Wales in the
Meat Preparations (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2024 which was
laid before the Senedd on the 12 April.
The 2024 Regulations were laid before the UK Parliament on 22 April 2024 and will come into force on 28th April 2024.
The 2024 Regulations do not commit Welsh Ministers to adopting any future UK Government position on biosecurity.
The 2024 Regulations do not diminish or undermine the powers of Welsh Ministers in any way, and they do not create, amend, or remove any functions conferred on the Welsh Ministers.
I would like to reassure the Senedd it is normally the policy of
the Welsh Government to legislate for Wales in matters of devolved
competence. However, in certain circumstances there are benefits in
working collaboratively with the UK Government where there is a
clear rationale for doing so. On this occasion, I have given my
consent to these Regulations for reasons of efficiency and
expediency in future policy change and adherence to international
obligations, cross-UK coordination, and consistency.
The Regulations and accompanying Explanatory Memorandum, setting out the detail of the provenance, purpose, and effect of the 2024 Regulations are available here: