4. Will the Minister make a statement on biosafety on farms in Wales? OAQ(5)0044(ERA)[W]

Thank you. Biosecurity is our first line of defence against serious notifiable infectious diseases like foot and mouth disease or bovine TB. It should be a vital part of daily farming life, helping to ensure that animals stay healthy and that businesses remain profitable.

Thank you for that response. One of the major frustrations that farmers are facing at the moment is the six-day standstill rule. There’s been much talk from the previous Minister in the previous Government that it was an intention to move to a model based on quarantine units. Can you give us an update on where you are with that particular development, and how soon will we see farmers being given that option of using those units rather than closing their farms down for six days?

Yes, this has been a significant piece of work. I know my officials have been working very closely with the livestock identification advisory group on the proposals for the quarantine units and we do continue to work with our stakeholders on the delivery of the project. I think what the new arrangements will do is simplify the standstill regime by replacing complex exemptions for isolation facilities, and I anticipate now the introduction of the units to be late spring of next year.

The ‘State of Nature 2016 Wales’ report states that land management is an important factor in conservation, as over 70 per cent of Wales is made up of farmland. Management, of course, includes safety management. The authors of the report have recently called on Welsh Government to do a number of things, including support land management that helps to maintain and enhance nature and the resilience of ecosystems, which of course are vulnerable to mistakes in terms of biosafety. What’s missing from our agri-environmental schemes to help support biodiversity—biosafety, sorry?

I’m not aware that there’s anything missing. But if the Member thinks there is specifically, if she’d like to write to me, I’ll certainly look into it.