Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his European Transition responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 3:01 pm on 27 January 2021.
Well, I thank David Melding for that question that highlights a very important issue. He will be aware, of course, of the equivalent to the trusted trader schemes that have been introduced as part of the new arrangements. However, generally speaking, those tend to be larger companies rather than many of the smaller and medium-sized companies that his question is concerned about and that, obviously, represent a large percentage of the Welsh economy.
The export action plan highlights a few practical things that we are doing to tackle the challenge that his question highlights. The economy Minister recently wrote an open letter to businesses setting out the support and guidance that we have available, including some that is available through the EU transition portal. There is, in addition to that, a new online export hub, which provides very practical advice around the kind of customs procedures, the paperwork and the finding of new clients that he refers to in his question.
Alongside that, we've developed a series of webinars, which aim to walk exporters through the new rules of origin requirements, export certification requirements and so on. In addition to that, the economy Minister has expanded capacity through the recruitment of international trade advisers, who are able to work directly with businesses referred on from Business Wales. They provide very bespoke support and advice to particular businesses about how they can navigate some of these challenges in their particular sectors, which offers a very practical and hands-on function to support them.