Questions now from the party spokespeople. The UKIP spokesperson, Neil Hamilton.

Diolch, Llywydd. Following the Cabinet Secretary's forward-looking statement yesterday about life after Brexit and an agricultural policy tailor-made for Wales, I'd like to ask her whether she will continue to be open minded on the question of introducing a ban on the live export of animals. I know she's said this in the past, but, if there were to be such a ban, it would not extend to Northern Ireland, because we can't have agricultural policy making trade more difficult with other parts of the United Kingdom.

In this context, I don't know whether she's seen the latest edition of Y Tir, the publication of the Farmers Union of Wales, which is headlined 'Live exports ban would be short-sighted in the context of other uncertainties around Brexit'. Only 140 tonnes by weight of animals were exported live from Wales, as I understand, last year. So, it's a small problem and therefore not likely to cause any great difficulty for farmers. But the fact that the trade is small is not in itself an argument against introducing such a ban if it proves to be justifiable in the context of all the other considerations that would have to be borne in mind, and therefore, it wouldn't, on that ground, be ruled out by the Welsh Government.

Thank you for the question. Certainly, I would prefer animals to be slaughtered as close as practical to their point of production, and I consider a trade in meat and meat products to be preferable to long-distance transport to slaughter. It's something that I'm looking at, along with DEFRA, and I have seen the article. We'll have to get that balance, but, obviously, animal health and welfare is very important to us too.

Of course, the interests of producers have to be given due weight in this argument, but short of introducing an outright ban, there are things that we could do to improve the current legislative regime once we're no longer confined within the carapace of EU regulation. We could make alterations to the length of time permitted to be in transit for animals, we could make alterations to the frequency of rest stops, and we could also reduce the number of animals in transit. So, these are all options that might be a halfway house but which would certainly improve the current situation, and illustrate that a greater flexibility in agricultural policy is one of the benefits that Brexit brings.

Well, as you know, the UK Government did a call for evidence and we'll have a look at what the responses are. I would do nothing without consultation. So, we'd then go out to consultation. I think it's really important that, along with DEFRA, we're very fully engaged in all the next steps so that we can determine our position. I absolutely agree with you about flexibility; it is one of the big opportunities of Brexit to be able to have that very Welsh-specific policy.

Thirdly, I'd like to ask whether the Cabinet Secretary will consider improving public awareness of the meat that members of the public consume by improving accurate labelling of products, clearly stating country of origin, rearing conditions and, most importantly, methods of slaughter, because although we must respect different religious views on ritual slaughter, the public at large often have no idea that they're eating halal meat, for example, and they may not wish to if they had a free choice. In fast-food chains, and so on, this is not currently pointed out, and whilst I believe there should be a freedom on the part of people of different religious persuasions to eat according to their religious tenets, nevertheless, public awareness could reduce public concern if it were to be increased in this way.

I think the labelling of food is becoming increasingly important because I think people are becoming much more interested in the subjects that you referred to, and, again, it's a conversation and a discussion that we're having not just at official level, but also at ministerial level in our quadrilaterals, and, again, it's another opportunity with Brexit to make sure that we get that right. I'm very keen to have the Welsh dragon and brand Wales on any food that originates from Wales, so I think, again, there's a lot more that we can do. I think the public are becoming more aware, and certainly when you go to the agricultural shows, or to any food missions and fairs, people certainly want to be aware of what they are purchasing.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Simon Thomas.

Diolch, Llywydd. May I ask the Minister—? I was part of the visit of the Climate Change, Energy and Rural Affairs Committee to Westminster last week, and had the opportunity to ask Michael Gove directly about the new environmental body that the UK Government has promised to establish to maintain EU and other environmental standards if we leave the EU. So, what discussions have you had with Michael Gove about this proposed body and what guarantees can you give the Assembly that it will uphold our high environmental standards here, including, of course, those passed recently in our own environment Act?

The Member makes a very important point in terms of upholding our strong environmental principles in Wales. This has been the subject of a number of deep dives and quadrilaterals amongst Ministers, the Cabinet Secretary and officials. We have repeatedly made the case for new institutional arrangements and agreed frameworks to ensure that the UK can function effectively after our exit from the EU.

I think the point that you make that's really important in terms of the framework is that we already have a number of legislative tools in place with our environment Act and also the well-being of future generations Act, which other administrations may not have at this point. So, we are working with Whitehall and the Scottish Government to identify where common agreed UK approaches will be useful and to explore how such frameworks would operate, and we will be considering the analysis carefully as part of this.

I thank the Minister for what she's explained so far, but the difficulty is, of course, that the Welsh Government has signed away its rights to protect the Welsh environment in the inter-governmental deal. You talk of UK frameworks—[Interruption.] It's not this Assembly, it's not the Welsh Government, it's Michael Gove who will be deciding what EU regulations will be transferred or not in the UK framework, and the UK Parliament can change EU standards here in Wales whether we like it or not, whether we consent or not. 

You really don't understand it, do you?

You don't understand it and you used to be an environment Minister, and you haven't a clue what's being done to Wales. Haven't a clue. So, let me ask the current Minister, rather than the previous one who made such a success of Natural Resources Wales, whether she is comfortable that Michael Gove has this power. What written assurances does she have that the UK Government will not use the EU withdrawal Bill to rewrite Welsh legislation on the environment?

I'm glad you've finished having an argument with the former Minister and have turned your question to me now. It will not surprise you to hear me say that I fundamentally disagree with the assertions you just made there. However, we do have a quadrilateral coming up on Monday, which the Cabinet Secretary and myself will be attending, and this is something that will be high on the agenda at that meeting.

What written assurances have you had?

I didn't hear any mention of a written assurance. Today is Europe Day. We're still in the European Union and we still have this access to environmental justice while we remain in the European Union. I understand that the Minister and the Welsh Government don't agree with Plaid Cymru or other people's analysis—because it's not just Plaid Cymru saying this—I understand that. But I asked you what written assurances you had that this would not take place. That's what I'm asking for here. Because when we tried to change the continuity Bill with amendments to write in the European legislation into our own legislation, your leader of the house told us that both the future generations Act and the environment Act are

'part of the important overarching framework for environmental protection in Wales.'

So, now, the Institute for Government has recommended that any new environmental watchdog would be more robust if it was given a four-nation remit designed and owned jointly by the four nations, and, in turn, co-funded by the four legislatures rather than just the UK Parliament. So, I ask again: what assurances have you had from Michael Gove that the work of the new environmental body will not trespass on Welsh environmental legislation, and, in particular, that it will not interfere with the work of the future generations commissioner? And are you, indeed, seeking to co-own and co-fund this new environmental body? 

Can I thank the Member for his final question? We have an inter-governmental agreement in place on this, and this is something that we will be further pressing the case on, in terms of protecting the legislation that we have in place and that we are proud to have led the way on and have in place in Wales, in our quadrilateral on Monday.

Conservative spokesperson, Paul Davies.

Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, last October, the Welsh Government announced its refreshed bovine tuberculosis eradication programme. Given that it's been seven months since that launch, can you provide an update on the progress made in making Wales a TB-free country and on the effectiveness of the Welsh Government's policy? Can you also tell us how many infected badgers have been removed since the start of the programme?

You'll remember, Paul Davies, that when I came to the Chamber regarding the refreshed TB eradication programme I said I would give an annual statement on progress, and I will be doing that at the appropriate time later this year. I can't give you the number of infected badgers that have been removed, but I can write to you on that matter.FootnoteLink

Information further to Plenary

When you first made that announcement back in October, one of the Welsh Government's longer term goals, according to the Wales TB eradication programme delivery plan, was the development of an informed purchasing scheme. At the time, you made it absolutely clear that this was something the Welsh Government was very keen to press ahead with. Therefore, can you confirm if this is still on the Welsh Government's agenda? If so, could you tell us exactly what work your officials have undertaken to develop a compulsory scheme and when that scheme is likely to be introduced?

Yes, it is certainly something that we are bringing forward and that officials are working on. You'll be aware that I gave funding to ensure that we could bring in a voluntary scheme whilst we were working to have a compulsory scheme, and again, I will be able to inform Members on this when I do the annual statement.

Now, as I'm sure you'll appreciate, the UK's departure from the European Union could present significant challenges for Wales's agricultural industry, and it's crucial that the Welsh Government is tackling bovine TB in Welsh cattle, given the implications that this could have on trading with other countries post Brexit. Therefore, can you tell us what discussions the Welsh Government has already had with its European counterparts regarding post-Brexit trade and can you provide cast-iron guarantees to cattle farmers today that their businesses will not be adversely affected, post Brexit, by the Welsh Government's approach to actually tackling bovine TB?

I can certainly give that assurance. Over the last few years, we've made real progress towards eradicating TB in Wales. You know the number of new incidents has fallen by over 40 per cent since it was at its peak back in 2009, and we now have 95 per cent of herds in Wales TB free. So, I don't want people to think this is something that's got worse; it really hasn't. We've made huge progress in eradicating TB.