Item 12 is the next item. These are the Plant Health etc. (Fees) (Amendment) (Wales) (EU Exit) (No.2) Regulations 2022. I call on the Minister for Climate Change to move the motion and to speak to these regulations again. Julie James.

Motion NDM8051 Lesley Griffiths

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5:

1. Approves that the draft The Plant Health etc. (Fees) (Amendment) (Wales) (EU Exit) (No. 2) Regulations 2022 is made in accordance with the draft laid in the Table Office on 21 June 2022.

Motion moved.

Diolch, Llywydd. I move the motion. The Plant Health etc. (Fees) (Amendment) (Wales) (EU Exit) (No.2) Regulations 2022 amend the Plant Health etc. (Fees) (Wales) Regulations 2018. 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. These fees recover the cost of the work of the Animal and Plant Health Agency in Wales. The purpose of these checks is to protect Wales from the spread of harmful pests and diseases in plants in cultivation and in the wider environment.

The regulations introduce a short-term flat rate fee from 22 July for plants for planting, excluding dormant seeds and bulbs, and cuttings. This reflects the new frequency of checks in the Official Controls (Plant Health) (Frequency of Checks) Regulations 2022. Together, these regulations implement a new risk-targeted inspection regime for imported consignments of plants. The proposed amendments also reinstate fees for suspected infected samples taken on imports. This ensures that the Animal and Plant Health Agency can recover costs for laboratory testing to confirm the presence of a controlled plant pest. 

And finally, the regulations extend the movement assistance scheme until December 2023. The scheme supports traders moving consignments of plants, plant products or other goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. It will assist traders with advice and guidance to comply with new sanitary and phytosanitary rules. This amendment echoes changes being made elsewhere in the UK. It is critical to ensure businesses and importers of plants and plant products in Wales are not disadvantaged compared to their counterparts elsewhere in the UK. Diolch.

The Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, Huw Irranca-Davies.

Diolch, Lywydd, and for the final time today, Minister. [Laughter.]

We considered these regulations yesterday afternoon, and our report contains two merits reporting points. While we have not sought a Welsh Government response to those points, our second merits point comments on an important matter that is worth highlighting to the Senedd.

As the Minister has said, these regulations amend the Plant Health etc. (Fees) (Wales) Regulations 2018, which specify fees payable to the Welsh Ministers in relation to plant health and certification services. The explanatory memorandum accompanying the regulations states that:

'The fees for plant health checks determined by the 2018 Regulations are being amended in this instrument to reflect the frequencies of checks established under the Official Controls (Plant Health) (Frequency of checks) Regulations 2022'.

The frequency of checks regulations have been made by UK Government Ministers and they come into force next week. As the Minister has made clear, the Welsh Government has given its consent to the Secretary of State to make the frequency of checks regulations. The reason I raise this today for the Senedd is to demonstrate, using this example, the increasing complexity of law making for Wales—two Governments and two Parliaments making bits of the law on the same issue, at the same time.

We are writing to the Minister about the Welsh Government consenting to the frequency of checks regulations, because we have concerns that important matters, such as the interlinks with common frameworks, divergence from EU law, and the fact that the regulations appear to provide for a potentially new approach to policy, haven't been fully aired yet in the information that the Minister has provided to the Senedd. The extent, for example, of consultation with stakeholders in Wales specifically prior to their introduction is also unclear. I simply ask the Minister to reflect on these points in her closing remarks. I hope that it's helpful, in raising this today, to show the Senedd, once again, the increasing complexity in these areas with two Governments simultaneously legislating on the same matters.

I have no other speakers. The Minister to respond.

Just very briefly, we thank the committee for its work. We didn't provide a response as the committee didn't require one, but just to say that Lesley Griffiths and myself have raised this same issue in many inter-ministerial meetings, and indeed, we've written about the working of the framework agreements along very similar lines. I commend the motion to the Senedd.

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No. The motion is therefore agreed.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.