Item 7 on the agenda is a statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs on the future of agricultural support, and I call on the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Today, I want to outline the next steps the Welsh Government is taking to develop proposals for future agricultural support in Wales. Last year, the Welsh Government published the 'Sustainable Farming and our Land' consultation. It outlined proposals for a new system of financial support for farmers, and also proposed sustainable land management be adopted as the policy framework to deliver the support. 

The consultation presented a case for future funding to support and reward farmers who operate sustainable farming systems. In a world where future trade agreements are likely to open up our markets to a greater degree of competition, demonstrating the sustainability of food produced on Welsh farms with high animal welfare and environmental standards is likely to be increasingly important. The framework would also allow us to support the production of sustainable food and deliver against our environmental justice commitments.  

We received over 3,300 responses to the consultation. I again wish to thank those who took the time to read, consider and respond to it. In May, I published an independent analysis of the responses, and today I am publishing the policy response to the consultation. The range of views expressed in the responses reflect the broad scope of the proposals in the consultation. Upon careful consideration of these and the range of views expressed during the process, I continue to propose a future system of agricultural support designed around the sustainable land management framework.

The competitiveness of the farming sector in Wales was raised as a key issue in many responses, with some arguing a focus on environmental outcomes would harm the financial viability of Welsh farming. The proposed approach would provide an important income stream for farmers, recognising the important work they do in delivering environmental outcomes and rewarding them for it. In addition, we are seeking to reinforce the long-term competitiveness of the sector through enhanced business advice and support. This will help support farmers in the new economic realities following the UK’s departure from the EU. The competitiveness of farming, food production and improved environmental resilience are complementary agendas and our proposals are clear in this regard.  A sustainable land management approach will allow us to respond to the climate emergency, will help to reverse biodiversity decline, will ensure high standards of animal health and welfare, and will protect our natural resources. Food produced using this approach will be sustainable, ensuring a food supply for future generations.

In light of this, the Welsh Government has agreed to continue its development of proposals for a scheme based on the sustainable land management framework. A range of options will be explored, all of which will be judged in terms of cost, benefit and compliance with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Environment (Wales) Act 2016. To support the development of our proposals, we are undertaking a range of economic analysis to understand the impact of moving from an entitlement-based income support scheme to a voluntary scheme that rewards the production of outcomes. We are expecting output from this analysis next summer and I will ensure this is publicly available. 

No decision on any future scheme will be made before I've considered the results of the analysis and taken all other relevant considerations into account. To enable farmers to adjust their existing business model to accommodate any changes required by the proposed scheme, there will be a transition period. Before the end of this Senedd term, I will publish a White Paper that will pave the way for the introduction of an agriculture (Wales) Bill during the sixth Senedd term. I propose this Bill be strategic in scope, setting a support framework that can accommodate the development of agriculture and forestry within Wales for the next 15 to 20 years. The Bill will enable farmers to be financially supported and ensure a coherent and fair system of regulation can be applied to the agricultural sector. Over the coming months, we will continue to engage with stakeholders to enable the ongoing development of these proposals for the White Paper.

To ensure farmers are supported following the UK exit from the EU, I intend to launch a consultation later in the summer to seek views on the retention and simplification of rules around agricultural support for farmers and the rural economy. This support would bridge the gap between the current EU funding and any new scheme based on sustainable land management. The UK Government’s ongoing delays in confirming the level of replacement funding are frustrating and are delaying detailed forward planning.

Globally, it has been an extremely challenging few months, and Welsh farmers, of course, have not been exempt from recent circumstances. I am proud of the resilience they have shown in responding to those difficulties. Farmers, foresters and other land managers play a vital part in the economic, environmental and social well-being of Wales. We will continue to support them to adapt to economic and political changes, as well as the impact of climate change.

Minister, thank you for your statement. Today I started my day about half-past four this morning, loading lambs and ewes to go up to Raglan market. And when I was reading your statement, I have to say that, if I was talking to farmers in Raglan market today, I'm not sure I'd feel any more confidence in what might be coming down the tracks to take the place of what is currently the support package that is available to farmers here in Wales after extensive consultations by your department. And I appreciate there are various voices saying, 'There should be a pause because of COVID' and we can understand that, because obviously COVID has changed the complete landscape we're working in at the moment. You just need to go on to any website, now, and see that £500 million of extra money is coming to the Welsh Government because of announcements by the Chancellor today. Those are unprecedented sums of money that will be coming into the Welsh Government's coffers and it'll be for the Government to determine how it'll allocate that money accordingly.

But I do think it's a fair question, given the amount of energy that the department has put into this particular exercise, and rightly so because it is a transformation agenda—what exactly can we see, going forward, that will give confidence to farmers that the support will be coming through to sustain the rural communities that depend on this money, as the UK Government has committed, in the lifetime of this Parliament, to ring-fence that money and pass it to Welsh Government? And as I understand it, the current First Minister has indicated that that money will be passported through to farms, if it comes in that rural envelope. And so I'd be grateful for that answer from you so that people can understand the journey that you're going to undertake now in the department.

I would like to understand as well how much of a greater emphasis you're putting on the food security element in any discussions and debates that you're having internally, on the basis that we've seen what happened in the early part of the COVID crisis. Consumers, our voters, our constituents, put a huge amount of weight on local produce and understanding where that produce comes from, and I would suggest that food production is a public good. Do you identify with that, rather than just leaving it to the vagaries of the market? It is a public good that does need an element of support from Government, which I know is a point that you and I have debated over this despatch box over time.

I'd also like to understand what economic analysis has been going on in the department, especially as you're going to be bringing forward a White Paper before the Assembly goes into dissolution. Because, of course, into this mix we have to bear in mind that there will be an Assembly election. I'm sure you'll be fighting tooth and nail to retain a Labour Government here in Wales. Not unreasonably, I'll be fighting tooth and nail to make Paul Davies the First Minister and put a Conservative Government in. But I'm just stating the blindingly obvious. I'm just stating the blindingly obvious, in the next eight to nine months—[Interruption.] From this statement, there might be preparatory work by this particular Government, but there will be a new Government after May of next year, assuming, obviously, that the elections do go ahead. So, it is important to understand what economic analysis is undertaken by the department on any proposals that it is bringing forward. And will you be making that economic analysis available, so that people can understand the thinking behind some of the work that's going on? 

You touch, in your statement, about a voluntary scheme. I think the way you word it is an entitlement-based scheme to a voluntary scheme. Well, the current scheme is a voluntary scheme, because you don't have to actually subscribe to it, you don't. So, you seem to be putting a heavy distinction on this wording. I'd be grateful if you could flesh out exactly your thinking on this—why you believe that it'll be a greater voluntary effort of a farmer/landowner in Wales to sign up to your scheme than maybe it would be under the current scheme, given that you put such emphasis on it in your speech.

You also touch on a transition period from the current scheme to whatever will take its place. I've touched on the election that will happen next year. We don't have an agricultural Bill here in Wales, although there are huge powers within the UK agricultural Bill, and you, as Minister, and the Welsh Government, sought, obviously, to protect that transition. In that Bill, there is the ability to have the current schemes in place until 2024. Do you envisage a transition scheme that would take that length of time and so, therefore, you would be able to use the current model of support up until that time? Or are you looking at a far shorter transition period?

My final point, and with the indulgence of the Deputy Presiding Officer, as I remember from last week—[Laughter.]—all power to your elbow on the simplification around the common agricultural policy rules and guidance that are out there at the moment. I have to say, as a Member of some 13-years standing, I have stood here many, many times and heard Ministers, of all shapes and sizes, talk about simplification of rules and regulations. I'd be most grateful, and I can see one of your predecessors behind you there, and I can remember him standing here talking about simplification very often—so I'd be grateful to understand what your thinking is about how you can do this, because all power to your elbow, as I said. I wish you well on that. But very often, when Government sets about a simplification agenda, it ends up with a whole new raft of new regulations and rules that complicate the picture even more.

And my final point, if I may, is that your department does have several reports from the auditor general around the rural development plan. The rural development plan is a distinctively Welsh plan that was devised here in Wales by the Welsh Government. Based on those reports and the efforts of the department, it doesn't give me confidence going forward that the department is well placed to devise these new measures for Welsh agriculture and the Welsh countryside. I hope that you will address some of those issues in maybe your brief response to me, to give me and others confidence that when it comes to the RDP, we shouldn't read everything into it across for these new measures that you're bringing forward for sustainable farming.

Thank you, Andrew R.T. Davies, for that long list of questions—I will try to answer them all. I think you're right, we've had two lengthy consultation processes, and we have had to pause the work. I'm not as far ahead as I would have wanted to be, but you will appreciate, with the COVID-19 pandemic—that was the focus and continues to be the focus. But I did think it was important to bring this statement to the Senedd to inform Members where we are in the process. I wanted to assure people that I will be bringing a White Paper forward before the end of this Senedd term. I had hoped we would have had a draft agricultural Bill, but I think the length of time that the EU transition period has been, and, obviously, with the delays that we've had this year, that's clearly not going to be the case. But I thought it was very encouraging to see the broad level of support for the sustainable land management framework. So, there is now going to be continual analysis of that, with modelling et cetera going over the next few months. I'm very conscious, when I was saying in my statement, 'I will be doing this, I will be doing that', that, of course, there is an election next May. But I think it is important to maintain that momentum. It's very important for the agricultural sector. So, consequently, I was wanting to update Members.

Around the funding—as I say, we haven’t had confirmation about the level of funding, but you are right, the First Minister has said that funding will be hypothecated for agriculture for this period.

Food security is a really interesting point, because you're quite right—you and I and others have argued around public goods and whether food is indeed a public good, but it's got a market, so it can't be. However, food security is obviously very important. And, as you say, we saw that panic buying in the initial stages of the pandemic in a way that perhaps we thought might happen if there was a 'no deal' Brexit. And, clearly, people did feel fearful, I think, that there wouldn't be enough food. And you're absolutely right, our farmers stepped up to the plate, along with many people in the food supply chain, to make sure, as a nation, we didn't go hungry, and we are very grateful to them for that.

So, what we want to do is continue to have a focus on the sector producing sustainable, high-quality food that meets consumers' needs. You're right, there's been a real push, I think, from members of the public to buy locally produced food. We've seen a huge increase in the number of local butchers that have been used, and I've had some very interesting conversations with our Welsh food and drink producers over the last three or four months. Some of them have really embraced online sales, for instance, and we were able to support them in relation to packaging et cetera, and we want to lock in that behaviour, so that people will continue to buy locally. So, we know that whilst, obviously, farms in Wales can only produce a part of the varied diet that we need to sustain health—and trade is very important—I think we want to do all we can to ensure that food security is enabled by produce from Wales being supplemented by imported food, but that food has also got to be to standards that we see here in Wales.

You're right about the Agriculture Bill that's currently going through the UK Government, and we are looking to take powers from that. It was really important, if we're going to pay our farmers next year, that we took those powers, and that's why we sought to do that.

You mentioned 2024, and I think, realistically, we're not going to be able to transition to a new scheme much before 2024, if indeed before that. You talked about confidence in the new scheme. So, conversations I've had with many farmers—and probably yourself included, and certainly, I was talking to Future Farmers of Wales; I had a meeting with them a couple of weeks ago—they don't think that the basic payment scheme has made them resilient enough. They want to have this scheme because they do think it will help build that resilience. So, I am confident that the outcomes that we seek within this scheme will make sure that we have that resilient agricultural sector that we want.

Around the simplification, I absolutely get that. We haven't worked out the details of that. Again, that is one thing that has been paused over the past few months, but, as I say, we will launch a consultation—it says in my notes 'in the summer', but, clearly, we're in the summer now, so I'm not quite sure. But I'm certainly not in a position to be able to do that in the political summer yet. 

You mentioned around Rural Payments Wales, and I'm grateful to Audit Wales for that report, and obviously officials will be responding to that in due course and will be providing evidence to the Public Accounts Committee, and that's absolutely the place where it should be properly considered. I do just want to say, though—and I think the report does make very clear—the issue is value for money. It was not properly tested in the appraisal of projects, and I know officials have reviewed the projects concerned to ensure they do in practice deliver value for money and where appropriate take action to ensure we do achieve value for money, including retendering some projects. So, work had already been undertaken in some of the areas, so I do have confidence in RPW and they've worked very hard on this process and getting this scheme out to consultation. As I say, we're not as far ahead as I would have preferred to have been, but, clearly—. I think the next stage is probably more exciting, but I think it's really important that we pause at the moment, reflect on the responses, and I hope Members will have read the document. 

Thank you, Minister, for your statement this afternoon. I'll just start by maybe asking you to explain a few inconsistencies that I think I'm spotting in your statement and in the associated policy response document that you published to go with the statement today. You tell us in your statement that you'll be undertaking a range of economic analyses to understand the impact of moving from one system to another—you've already elaborated slightly on that—and that you're expecting output from the analysis next summer, but in the next breath you say that before the end of this Senedd term—so, that's long before next summer and before the economic impact analysis is going to be available—you'll be publishing a White Paper, paving the way for the introduction of an agriculture (Wales) Bill. So, really, is that not putting the cart before the horse because you're proposing legislation before you know what the economic impact is going to be?

And later on you tell us in the statement that the UK Government's ongoing delays in confirming the level of replacement funding are frustrating and are delaying detailed forward planning—and I couldn't agree more—but how, then, can you do the economic analysis of the impact of a new support system if you don't know how much money is coming to Wales? Because if we get £5 million, it will have a certain impact; if we have £105 million, it'll have a very different economic impact. So, it suggests to me that you're working blind somewhat here and the risk is, of course, that you get it horribly wrong. 

I'd like you to elaborate further on the consultation that you mentioned may or may not happen this summer—exactly when it's happening, you weren't sure—about retaining and the simplification of rules around agricultural support for farmers and the rural economy. What kind of rules are you looking at here? Which rules in particular? Just give us an example, because I just want to understand exactly what you're trying to achieve and where you're targeting that consultation.

You tell us in your statement that some are arguing that the focus on environmental outcomes would harm the financial viability of Welsh farming. I don't agree it would harm the economic viability of Welsh farming. I think, actually, that payment for public goods offers huge opportunities, and we have to reflect the climate and ecological crisis that we face within land management policy as we do across all Government policies. But, of course, my issue, as you know, is that you're framing this as an either/or situation. You're giving us the proposal that either we have payment for public goods or we retain a basic payment. Now, I don't agree that it is that either/or situation. Doing away in totality with at least an element of a direct payment I believe carries with it too much risk that you'll actually lose those family farms that you're actually depending upon to deliver the environmental outcomes that we all want to see. And, of course, what that will do is it will further entrench the power imbalance that we have within the food supply chain, leaving Welsh farms to a greater extent at the whim of a dysfunctional market, which is overwhelmingly, of course, controlled by a very small number of very, very large retailers, and that'll actually weaken, and not strengthen, the sector's resilience in many ways. You say that the production of food is rewarded by the market—those are your words. Well, if COVID-19 has taught us anything, it's underlined once and for all that, actually, food production isn't always rewarded by the market, and very often it's exploited by the market, and exploited to the detriment of our family farms, our rural economy and wider rural community. So, taking away any direct support leaves those farms, I fear, even more exposed, and Brexit, of course, will make things even worse. So, that's why I would prefer a hybrid model. Yes, let's ramp up the public goods support, but also retain at least an element of direct support.

Now, finally from me, you refer to the advisory service and you say that you're going to commission an independent and objective assessment of the effectiveness of Farming Connect—you tell us in your policy response document—to help shape the design of future advisory support, and I think that's the perfectly right thing to do, but, of course, developing on what was said earlier about some of the issues that have recently been exposed in relation to the RDP by the Auditor General for Wales, the risk is, of course, that, in carrying over the RDP approach, effectively, into the new system that is being proposed, then you risk, of course, carrying over something where maybe we haven't learnt the lessons that we need to learn in terms of the way it's been delivered, whether—. You know, we certainly haven't assessed effectively enough, I think, the impact of the RDP thus far—the value-for-money stuff and the cost-effectiveness issues that were highlighted by the auditor general—and I know a number of people are calling for an independent review into the RDP. So, if you're willing to have an independent and objective assessment of certain elements, then surely you should be willing to have that wider take on the situation before we actually implant it at the heart of the new system that we're moving towards.

Diolch, Llyr, for those questions. Sorry, I didn't answer Andrew R.T. Davies's point around the economic analysis, and, at the moment, we're currently procuring to engage an independent consultant to examine the effect of the proposals on the agriculture economy of Wales, and then—. It's a complex piece of work and, when it's received, if it's myself, then I would certainly be able to publish that, but I think it is going to take a little while, because it is such a complex piece of work.

It's also really important to examine the estimated economic effects of the proposals on farm businesses—I think that is really important—as well as across the different farm sectors and the different farm regions in Wales. And Llyr talked about the environmental outcomes of different—well, you didn't say about different farms, you were talking about the environmental outcomes, and what's really important, and one of the questions that I was constantly asked was, 'Would there be farms that could not produce any environmental outcomes?', and I think the answer is, 'No, we think all farms of all types and all different sizes are able to produce environmental outcomes, and are doing so now, but not getting the rewards for them.'

So, we hope that every farm will be able to attract payments under the proposed sustainable farming scheme and that's why it's really important to do economic analysis and also modelling. So, further modelling will take place over the coming months. You're right about the EU transition period and leaving the EU, because we know that future trade relationships will have the potential to impact many areas of environment and rural affairs, and, whilst we don't know the level of funding, what we were told is we would not lose a penny, so that is the basis on which I work and officials work on bringing forward this scheme.

I think you make a very important point about COVID-19 and the concern about exploitation of some of our farm producers, and I went to great lengths to meet with the retail forum regularly—I met with them again this morning—to make sure that wasn't happening. We heard about a couple of incidents where supermarkets rationalised their produce on offer, but it was really important that they didn't cut out Welsh producers, and we didn't want that exploitation to happen. Food production has always been really important to me, and it was always part of the consultations. If you look at the UK Government consultation, I don't think the word 'food' appeared at all. We always made sure that it worked, and we're doing a piece of work now on sustainable brand values, and we're linking that with our food production and our food security. I mentioned in my answer to Andrew around the Wales Audit Office report, but, clearly, that risk that you refer to is something that, obviously, I was concerned about, and, as officials respond to that report in the audit committee, then we can—. Once that report has been scrutinised in the way it should be, then we can look at it. But we are having ongoing review of delivery of the RDP; if problems are identified that we can address then we will need to do that, but I think it is really important that we do get it right ahead of any scheme coming forward, because the last thing I want to do is make it more complex or more difficult.

But I go back to what I was saying to Andrew about the BPS and people saying that did not provide the resilience that's needed, and so, whilst I don't want to rush to transition, I don't think it's helpful not to have the scheme in place, but realistically I don't think it will be before 2024. But I want to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to participate, everybody gets rewarded for those public goods that they're providing—that air quality, the soil quality, the water quality. That's not happening now.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute today and fly the flag for our agricultural sector. I live in a farming community, and I used to work in it as a farm hand on mixed farms and also as a shepherdess. While I worked within this community, I had to comply with some of the rules and regulations imposed on us by the EU, such as cutting down milk quotas. Watching my farmers having to throw gallons of milk away twice a day after milking, as it was against the rules to even give it away, was totally devastating. Then you had the heavy restrictions, the mass bureaucracy and the actual payments to large, wealthy landowners for not actually farming their own land—that never made any sense to me. I watched small farms collapse and I saw grown men crying. My Euroscepticism grew out of working within that framework.

Your response to the changing circumstances brought about by our exit from the EU is considered and has taken some time from the initial consultation. That is not a criticism. Any change of this scale and nature has to be well-thought-through, discussed and then discussed again with those who will be working within it, and it's clear that that is indeed the case here. I welcome the proposal for the White Paper in the next Senedd term, and the ongoing work that will inform the content.

Some in this Chamber will celebrate the fact that the UK is currently in the process of trade negotiations with the rest of the world; others will have reservations about standards and competition. So, I am pleased that, just last week, the UK trade Secretary announced a trade and agriculture commission to influence animal welfare standards and competition in our quest for world-wide trade. NFU Cymru was involved in this, and will remain involved, it appears. Can I ask you what your views are on this commission, although it is early days, and what discussions did Liz Truss have with you before it was agreed? And are collaborative discussions now taking place between all UK Governments in terms of common frameworks, trade and all associated matters? What assurances can you give those in the sector that continuity of some sort of support will be available while they are transitioning—although I think you've answered part of that—from one scheme to another? 

I really appreciate the focus on sustainable land management and the public good in your proposals. This appears to create the bridge we need between the present and the future, and it is in the spirit of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. Are you confident, though, that the direction of travel has enough flexibility built into it to provide room for innovation and self-determination for farmers? I know that previous and current schemes have been described as too prescriptive by the sector, and I hope that lessons have been learned there.

Finally, I'd like to pay tribute to everyone working in agriculture. As key workers, they've kept the country fed in exceptionally difficult circumstances. Many consumers have seen the benefit of packs of meat, fruit and vegetables from their local suppliers. I suspect, and I really hope, that these practices and services will stay once lockdown is over. I wish you well with your next steps, and I wish this sector here in Wales, with their excellent produce, innovations and services, the very brightest of futures. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mandy Jones, for those comments and questions. I absolutely agree—everybody in the food supply chain have been key workers in ensuring, as I said earlier, that we didn't go without food.

One of the things that we saw at the beginning of the pandemic, unfortunately, on one occasion, was milk being poured away, and I absolutely agree with you about how heartbreaking that was for the farmers, and it's the reason why we've brought forward the dairy sector scheme.

Whilst you and I will never agree on EU transition, one thing I do agree is that active farmers have not been rewarded enough, and this scheme will reward active farmers. That was very important as we bring the scheme forward: that it is not the landowners but the farmers, the people who do all of the work, who will get rewarded. I also have said all along that, if we have more bureaucracy, then we will have failed. We need to make sure that things are much more simple.

The short answer is that Liz Truss had no conversations with me before she announced that, but I wouldn't expect that. We tried to get her to come to many of our Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs quadrilaterals when she was in the Treasury and failed miserably, apart from one phone call, so that doesn't surprise me. However, I will be having conversations with George Eustice, the Secretary of State for DEFRA. As you know, we meet regularly—we met last week—and that's a conversation that will be going forward as we discuss frameworks as well.

I want to assure everybody that we will not go to the new scheme without a significant transition period. We will not transpose to that scheme until everything is in place. As I said, I think it would be very surprising if it were before 2024.

Obviously, the future generations Act and the environment Act have guided us, and will continue to guide us. I do think there is enough flexibility. I want to see innovation in our agricultural sector—it's something that we've encouraged and I think has been grasped by many parts of the sector.

I appreciate it must be very frustrating not to know how much money Wales is going to get from whatever is going to replace the common agricultural policy, but I do feel that, whether it's going to be £5 million or £105 billion or million, we need to have set the parameters in which we're going to operate. I feel that we're just going to be done to, depending on what the UK Government comes up with—with their 'no deal' Brexit, possibly, with their trade deal with the United States and the chlorination of our food programme.

So, I just feel that we are in danger of just being passive recipients of whatever the UK Government dishes up for us, rather than actively deciding what we think is important about the way we use our land and the way in which we reward for outcomes rather than simply entitlement, simply because somebody is a landowner. So, it seems to me that we need to be moving at a much faster pace than you are setting out in your statement. It depresses me to think that we're not even going to get an analysis of the move from an entitlement-based to a voluntary scheme until the summer after next year's elections.

As you say, it's been, globally, a very challenging time, but we've got so many things that are happening all around us, and, unless we actively decide what we want to do, in line with the environment Act and the future generations Act, we're simply just going to be swept away. 

So, I wanted to ask you about two specific developments that have already happened recently. One is that—I don't know whether Andrew R.T. Davies and Llyr Gruffydd are aware of this, but the UK has issued guidance about the marketing of agriculture and vegetable seed varieties that will require applicants for adding any variety that is not already on the list to have to pay £300 per variety to get onto the permitted list in order to sell them. This is god's gift to Monsanto and the McDonald's-isation of food, rather than sharing the most appropriate varieties for growing in Welsh soil. So, I'd be keen to know whether you've had the opportunity to analyse just what impact that's going to have.

And the second point is that Dr Tom Jefferson from Oxford University's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in the last couple of days has identified the presence of coronavirus around the world in the sewerage systems in Spain, Italy and Brazil long before the outbreak in Wuhan, and he says that it struck because it found favourable conditions in food-intensive environments like food factories and meat packing plants, to which I suggest we should add intensive chicken and pig farms and mega dairies.

Can you come to a conclusion, please?

So, I wondered what assessment the Welsh Government plans to make of the link between COVID and its incubation in intensive food environments.

Okay, thank you, Jenny Rathbone. We are actively pursuing our own agricultural scheme and policy. I've always said it will be bespoke for Wales and we are continuing to do that in light of all the difficulties that you've outlined.

In relation to the reference about the £300 per variety to add sellers to the permitted list, the £300 fee charge is part of the normal application process for UK listing and that ensures the full recovery of costs incurred in providing these services. And the cost for registering heritage varieties or varieties that are intended mainly for gardeners—I think they're known as 'amateur veg'—that's lower, and it's about £100 per variety application. But we are continuing to work to support the industry, and an example of this is our recently launched simplified process for copying EU common catalogue plant varieties onto the UK national list to ensure that we have that continued and seamless marketing in the UK following the EU transition period coming to an end. 

With regard to your question around Dr Tom Jefferson, who, as you say, has identified the presence of the virus around the world ahead of the outbreak in Wuhan, you'll be aware of the two outbreaks that we've had in north Wales and the incident in Merthyr, and I'd just like to thank Public Health Wales, the HSE and local authorities for their response to these cases. Colleagues will be aware there's been a number of newly identified cases and that that's now a small number, and that's because we've got the test, trace and protect system now working.

I want to emphasise that the food industry has well-established practices to minimise cross-contamination within its production lines and amongst its staff, and this was recognised by both the public health authorities and by HSE during their investigations. Again, I'd like to emphasise, the Food Standards Agency said there's no risk of transmission via food, but of course we're continually looking at this and we will always consider proven evidence when we're developing our policy.

Finally, Neil McEvoy.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Minister, thanks for the statement. The publication Nation.Cymru reported today that the Financial Times are reporting that the UK Government will force Wales to accept inferior agricultural products, such as chlorinated chicken, for example, and it said that the Welsh Government's senior official had said that we will be expected to fall in line.

Do you not think it's time that the Welsh Government drew a line in the sand with the UK Government and strongly stood up for food producers in Wales? Because the legislation already exists. We have public health legislation and we should invoke that to stop the import of chlorinated chicken and other inferior products. So, I simply do not see why the health of the population of the people of Wales should be damaged by products such as that. Therefore, we have the powers in place already, the question to you really is: are you prepared to use them and are you prepared to support the agricultural community in that way?

The short answer is 'yes'. I'm absolutely determined to support the agricultural community, and we've made it very clear to the UK Government that we will not accept a lowering of standards of animal health or welfare. You'll be aware that Eluned Morgan is the Minister with responsibility for trade negotiations on behalf of Welsh Government and she, too, has made clear, in relation to the trade negotiations being undertaken now by the UK Government as we approach the EU transition, that we will not accept that. I've also made it very clear to DEFRA that they're not acceptable. They're not acceptable to the EU now, so I don't see why they should be acceptable following transition. 

Thank you very much, Minister.