Diolch, Llywydd. I move the motion. The Plant Health etc. (Fees) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 amend the Plant Health etc. (Fees) (Wales) Regulations 2018, in consequence of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The 2018 regulations specify fees payable to the Welsh Ministers in relation to plant health services, and in particular, certain fees payable to the Welsh Ministers in relation to checks of imports of plants and plant products. The purpose of such checks is to reduce biosecurity risk and protect Wales from the spread of harmful pests and diseases.

On 14 September 2021, the UK Government extended the timetable of the transitional staging period for the introduction and phasing in of border controls on sanitary and phytosanitary imports from the European Union to Great Britain. The revised timetable delays specific controls by a further four months, from 1 March to 1 July of this year. This is to reflect the challenges faced by the imports and food supply sectors in recent months as we recover from the pandemic, which has impacted supply chains across Europe and globally.

This revision of the timetable has been achieved through amendments to the official controls regulations 2021. It has delivered a single date across all GB nations from which the remaining documentary, identity and physical checks on plants and plant products due to be phased in will begin to apply to all SPS goods. However, there remains a further consequential amendment necessary to ensure that Wales is fully aligned to this timetable. Our current regulations require the introduction of plant health fees from 1 March, and the proposed amendment before you today seeks to ensure that we in Wales mirror the timetable now set out in the rest of Great Britain, with the introduction of plant health fees from the new date of 1 July 2022. This is a small but critical amendment that ensures that businesses and importers of plants and plant products in Wales will not be disadvantaged. Diolch.