Excellent. I’d like to thank the Chair and members of the committee for their inquiry and for their report. I think it’s fair to say that Welsh ports currently punch well above their weight with over 11 per cent of the total freight moved through the UK handled by Welsh ports and over 70 per cent of cargo to and from Ireland, Great Britain and the wider EU passing through ports in Wales. So, it’s clear that the sector already makes a major contribution towards our ambition of providing a united, connected, sustainable and also a more prosperous Wales.

This is an important time for us as we look forward to the devolution of ports-related functions under the Wales Act next year, during our Year of the Sea. Devolution will signal a new contract between the sector and the Welsh Government and that enhanced relationship will allow us to work together to exploit the opportunities that lie ahead.

Ports in Wales have achieved great success with a commercial and market-led environment. I believe it’s essential to maintain that environment. I want to ensure the right conditions are in place to enable ports to achieve even more success, but we must recognise the uncertainty that lies ahead following the decision to leave the EU. This presents unique challenges.

In our White Paper, we set out clearly our priorities for Brexit, including the critical importance of avoiding disruption to our trade. We also stressed that any changes to migration and/or customs rules would have an immediate and major impact at Welsh ports, and the committee report highlights the seriousness of these potential impacts.

The key to managing these threats and opportunities is to ensure close and collaborative engagement between all relevant parties, and I am pleased to have accepted all of the committee’s recommendations, either in full or in principle.

The common thread connecting each recommendation is the need to work in partnership, whether towards ensuring customs arrangements do not disadvantage Welsh ports or towards consideration of an IT-based solution. This approach will enable us to promote and preserve maritime economic opportunities and increase prosperity throughout Wales.

The Welsh Government is being proactive in this area. In addition to the well-established engagement fora that already exist between Governments, businesses and the sector, we have asked the UK Government to ensure that they are engaged with us, with Welsh ports, and with relevant businesses on customs issues.

This approach, which is fully supported by the Welsh ports group, will enable us to understand the practical impact of new customs arrangements in Wales, both in terms of ports and the wider economic implications for Welsh business. We will then be able to determine, at the earliest possible stage, the right combination of solutions needed to maximise frictionless trade. Our key priority in this reserved space is to work with ports in Wales to influence the UK Government towards the most beneficial customs and tariffs arrangements that will provide growth for our ports and wider economy as well as enhancing commercial activity right across Wales.

We will continue to collaborate closely with the sector on the threats and the opportunities that could impact on our ability to protect and enhance the role of ports following Brexit, and we will continue to press the UK Government on the need to ensure that Welsh ports are not unfairly disadvantaged as a result of any potential differentiated border arrangements, as recommended in the committee’s report.

As recommended in the report, we will also continue to work closely with other partners such as the Government of Ireland to assess the implications of Brexit and explore mutual challenges and opportunities, and I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to personally engage with Shane Ross, my counterpart across the water, to discuss planning for a post-Brexit relationship. Wales provides a strategic link with Ireland for the rest of the UK and mainland Europe. Ensuring that link is maintained will be of benefit to all parties, as Members have rightly identified.

Since the publication of the committee’s report, the UK Government has set out its preferred approach to streamlining customs arrangements post Brexit and yesterday published a customs White Paper together with a trade White Paper. The customs White Paper sets out plans to legislate for the stand-alone customs, VAT and excise regimes that the UK will need once it leaves the EU, and also detail on the contingency planning in the event of a ‘no deal’. The strong representations we and industry have made in respect of frictionless trade I think have been heard, but how that will work in practice remains unclear, especially in the event of ‘no deal’, and a priority must still be to reach an agreement with the EU. Business simply cannot afford to face any risk of excessive delays or administration for new customs checks. We risk seeing important trade lost to ports in Scotland and the north of England, and much of the goods that cross from Ireland to Holyhead are perishable and they are in the other direction, so any delays—any lengthy delays—would be disastrous. I recognise that the paper appears to address the soft and hard border question and the potential detriment to Welsh ports by stressing that the answer to avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland cannot be to impose a new customs border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. But, again, how that will work in practice remains unclear, and I’m concerned the customs Bill White Paper essentially proposes to introduce detailed arrangements via secondary legislation.

As a number of Members have identified, the White Paper also places a great deal of trust in technology providing the answer to frictionless trade. It might well do that, but I think there is a high-risk approach here, leaving no room for mistakes or delay in an area where the UK Government’s track record is not good. Furthermore, details of the proposed IT solution have not been fully disclosed, and therefore it makes accurately assessing the cost at this stage impossible.

Acting Deputy Presiding Officer, I can assure Members that we will consider and engage on further detail via both White Papers and will update the Assembly as developments progress. On the point of free ports, I would like to say that such zones are not physically constrained to ports, but we are engaging proactively with the sector and with individual ports on the potential of free zones, and we will seek to influence UK Government’s position as that position becomes clear.