7. Statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs: Sustainable Farming: the future of agriculture support

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:46 pm on 8 July 2020.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 4:46, 8 July 2020

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.