Item 5 this afternoon is a statement by the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd on avian flu. I call on the Minister, Lesley Griffiths, to make the statement.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Over the last 12 months, we have witnessed the most severe outbreak of avian influenza in Wales and across Great Britain. This has been the largest outbreak of an exotic notifiable disease in animals since the catastrophic outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001. Great Britain is not alone in this. This strain of AI is affecting birds in most of Europe, and parts of Asia and North America.

The current outbreak has been unique in its nature. Previously, AI occurred only in some winters, as a result of carriage by winter migrant wildfowl. When those birds left our shores, the disease did also. This year, we have seen the H5N1 strain spread to some resident wild birds, causing devastation to some sea bird colonies, resulting in the infection persisting over the summer, and we are now seeing outbreaks in domestic birds this autumn.

As always, we've taken a science-led approach to containing this severe incursion of disease, with the scientific knowledge developing as the outbreak evolves. In response to the changing pattern of disease threat, we have continued surveillance of AI in wild birds and maintained the trigger points for investigation of dead wild birds in Wales, despite obvious resource pressures to increase that threshold.

We've worked across Government, agencies and stakeholder groups to enable publication of the joint mitigation strategy for wild birds for England and Wales. This strategy sets out practical guidance for land managers, members of the public and ornithological and environmental organisations, in response to the threat of AI to wild birds.

Of course, disease does not respect borders and, throughout this outbreak, we've worked closely with counterparts in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Scottish Government to lead a coherent and joined-up response to tackling AI, whilst responding to the world-class scientific evidence and advice provided by the Animal and Plant Health Agency. 

The threat of AI to both kept and wild birds is reviewed weekly. In response to increased risk levels, the Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales declared an all-Wales AI prevention zone on 17 October 2022. The AIPZ requires all bird keepers, regardless of the number of birds kept, to adopt simple but essential biosecurity measures to keep their birds safe from infection. This year, we have tightened up these measures and included a new requirement to keep kept birds off land known to be frequented by wild waterfowl or contaminated with their droppings. The experience of so many outbreaks of AI in the past year has taught us how infection is being spread to kept birds. Our AIPZ measures are designed to close off these routes of spread and they must be applied rigorously by all keepers. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank keepers across Wales who are adhering to the biosecurity measures we've already implemented in Wales to protect their birds. Your efforts have resulted in Wales having only two reported cases of AI since October 2022.

Yesterday, mandatory housing of birds came into force in England. Wales, along with Scotland and Northern Ireland, has not introduced a similar requirement. This reflects both the different scale and nature of AI across different parts of the UK. Fortunately, in Wales, we have not seen anything like the number of outbreaks in England, which would be required to justify any such housing order. Furthermore, the scientific advice of my interim chief veterinary officer is that, for Wales, the biosecurity requirements of our AIPZ are currently appropriate and sufficient to contain the AI threat. However, we keep the situation under daily review and stand ready to do what is necessary to protect our birds and the livelihoods and well-being of those who keep and care for them. My decision on whether or not to mandate the housing of birds in Wales will be based on scientific evidence and veterinary advice, and will balance potential protective effects against the potential harms of housing birds that would otherwise have been allowed outside.

In March 2021, in consultation with the industry, we introduced amendments to legislation to allow for the use of reusable and sustainable egg packaging for the movement of eggs during AI outbreaks, as well as changes to movement requirements to ensure the welfare of birds. We have facilitated over 3,000 licence applications, ensuring that movements of birds and their products from higher risk zones could happen safely and with minimal risk to disease spread.

I would like to thank the poultry industry in Wales, and all those who keep birds, for their continued engagement and constructive advice in the fight to control this terrible disease. I would also like to thank our vets, public authorities and bird keeping and show societies across Wales. You have all played a key part in protecting birds across Wales.

Finally, I would like to say a few words about the wider significance of AI to our society. The H5N1 strain we are currently battling causes severe disease only in some species of birds. Most of our common garden birds currently seem to be resistant to infection and not involved in spread, so it is safe and desirable to continue to feed them in our gardens this winter. The risk to human health from this strain is very low and poultry produce is safe to eat. Nevertheless, all caution should be taken to avoid or reduce contact with potentially infected birds. I would like to commend the excellent work of Public Health Wales in working closely with my officials to ensure the risk to people remains very low. As we move into the winter season, it is imperative we continue to work constructively together to protect our birds from an unprecedented incursion of disease through rigorously following simple biosecurity measures. Diolch.

I'm grateful to the Minister for giving me advance sight of this afternoon's statement, especially as she's had a very busy day on the front bench. This strain of bird flu, H5N1, is rightly a matter of serious concern. Indeed, we are witnessing infections right across our bird populations, from wild to kept birds. This disease does not respect borders, nor does it adhere to many conventional methods of biosecurity. So, our efforts to tackle this virus must be targeted, pre-emptive and proactive in response. And whilst I'm grateful to the Minister for setting our this Welsh Government's epidemic action plan, I am concerned that, at present, it doesn't go far enough in both biosecurity measures and support for the poultry industry.

Over the last year, we have witnessed how the epidemic has infiltrated the wild bird population to then transition over to commercial flocks. Indeed, as you highlighted in your statement, Minister, this disease is prevalent in a large number of commercial premises across both the United Kingdom and here in Wales too. So, our response to this epidemic must be pre-emptive and, most vitally, I believe, cross-border. This disease is not isolated within individual premises, nor does it adhere to partitions or boundaries, so I struggle to see why we haven't brought our biosecurity measures in line with those of England.

Across the border, and under the advice of England's chief veterinary officer, every poultry site has been instructed to house all poultry and captive birds as designated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, yet in Wales this pre-emptive measure has yet to be implemented. Our failure to do so not only risks greater transmissibility between wild and commercial populations, but it also has much wider ramifications for the industry as a whole.

Take, for example, the packaging of Welsh eggs, a large quantity of which is processed in England. Due to the England-only housing order, all eggs packaged in England must be classified as barn eggs to reflect existing H5N1 biosecurity measures, yet there is much concern here in Wales that current free-range Welsh eggs, which are then packaged in England, are, effectively, being downgraded to meet the requirements of English egg-marketing regulations, partly, in fact, due to the lack of packaging facilities here in Wales too. So, a Wales-wide housing order would not only reduce the risk of H5N1 transmission, but it would also establish parity between English and Welsh poultry markets, ensuring that both disease-control regulations and egg-marketing requirements are working in unison to safeguard supply.

Further to this, you touched upon the prevalence of H5N1 within wild bird populations and how, in acting as carriers, species such as ducks, geese, starlings and gulls are increasing the transmission amongst poultry populations. As it stands, a large number of positive commercial sites have been identified in areas of close proximity to the coastline. As we enter these winter months, native wild bird populations are going to move inland to withstand some of the harsher Welsh weather. As a consequence of this, areas that are susceptible to the spread of the disease will, undoubtedly, increase, putting more premises at risk. Should we introduce a Wales-wide housing order, we could pre-empt this response and give the poultry industry adequate time to prepare for any changes in regulation. So, given the industry's demand for this, can I urge you to, please, reconsider the position and take the necessary pre-emptive action that is required to ensure that we're ahead of the curve and mitigating the risk of a full-scale, Wales-wide outbreak?

Lastly, Minister, I would also wish to touch upon the importance of relaying this information to the general public. During your statement, you mentioned the importance of data-driven decision making. But, in order to make informed decisions, we must have a clear understanding of the virus's transmission amongst wild bird populations. For this to be the case, we are reliant upon information at present gathered by the general public—individuals who are reporting suspected bird flu in wild bird populations. Therefore, can I ask how you are working with your communications department to relay this information to the general public, whilst also ensuring that public confidence in the poultry industry remains at a high?

As we move into the winter season, we must continue to work constructively to protect our birds, but also ensure that the poultry industry has the tools and support it needs. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd.

Thank you very much for those questions. Clearly, you are going against the scientific advice and the advice I'm given by my chief veterinary officer in relation to mandatory housing, and I set out, I thought very clearly, in my oral statement the reasons why we have not followed England. You don't seem to ask why England haven't followed us, but the reason we have not followed England is because the advice I am given is that we shouldn't be introducing a compulsory housing order for poultry and captive birds in Wales at this time.

I can tell you that I do review it, and we will be reviewing it every day. So, it's not a matter of reconsidering; that review is done on a daily basis. The chief veterinary officer works, obviously, with other chief veterinary officers across the country, and I have to say that since compulsory housing was introduced in some parts of England—I think it was Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex—they've had 34 infected premises confirmed just in those areas, collectively, even though there was a mandatory housing order. So, it just reiterates to me, and I hope to everybody else, how important biosecurity is; that is the biggest thing in this fight against avian influenza. In that time, we've had two infected premises in Wales, so you can see, when we're operating without a housing order, the difference in the number of cases.

You mentioned free-range eggs, and obviously that is an issue that we have to take into consideration. We think that the current outbreak is likely to continue until spring next year, so this is something that you don’t take lightly. I’ve taken the decision to bring in mandatory housing in previous years, but I can only go on the scientific evidence that I am given and the advice I am given by the interim chief veterinary officer, and at this current time, he is telling me that it’s not necessary. Tomorrow it might be different, next week might be different, but please be assured that we are reviewing it on a daily basis.

But I would like to reiterate what I was saying: excellent levels of biosecurity remain the most effective protection against an incursion of avian flu. We had a new case just last night, as you may have picked up, and the chief veterinary officer had to declare another infected premises. That was the second one, and when I asked the reasons why we think that is there, there was evidence of contact with wild birds, so I reiterate the biosecurity message. It's not a matter of doing things differently, and I don’t want people to think that. We all take our evidence and advice from our chief veterinary officers.

You make a really good point around informing people, and one of the things that I was very keen to do, probably about five years ago now, was to try and encourage more people to register if they kept birds. At the time, and I think it might still be the case, you only had to register if you had 50 birds, but we encouraged everybody, even if you only had one or two or three or four chickens, to register, so that we knew where those birds were, because it’s very easy nowadays, isn’t it, just to drop an e-mail, and we were able to write to everybody on that register. From a comms point of view, social media, I’m sure you’ve picked up on Twitter, every day we seem to be putting out messages around avian influenza, but it is really important, and having this statement today is obviously another way of being able to inform the public.

Thank you for the statement, Minister. Well, bird flu has been worrying the sector for some time now, and like COVID, it seems that Wales is lagging behind England by a few weeks. Following the announcement of the cases discovered in Flintshire yesterday, and the 3 km control area that has been imposed, bird farmers are naturally concerned that stricter measures will be introduced with biosecurity recording, vehicle cleaning, and larger protection areas being introduced. Those are the concerns at present.

Any decision made by the Welsh Government, whether following England’s lead or ploughing its own furrow, will have an impact on this sector that will lead to additional costs due to monitoring and cleaning—time and material costs. So, beyond the guidelines introduced by the Government, what support will the Government offer to the sector to help them cope with these additional costs?

Some experts have mentioned that the current bird flu outbreak could have the same impact on the game shooting sector as foot-and-mouth disease had on the agricultural sector at the turn of the century. The sector will face significantly higher costs and it could have an impact on the animal food supply chain as well. You’ll know that people travel a long way to shoot game here in Wales, and we’re in the middle of the shooting season now. I do note that you have published a mitigation strategy for bird flu in wild birds in England and Wales. Could you confirm that this strategy includes requirements on shooters who travel for miles to come to shoot game here, requirements including the cleaning of vehicles, shoes and the other hygiene measures that they need to undertake before arriving to take part in a shoot here?

If there is confirmation of bird flu in any flock, then the likelihood is we will see the birds culled and the owners will be compensated for any healthy birds that will have to be culled in accordance with the value of the bird before it’s culled. There will also be a responsibility on owners to ensure that secondary cleaning takes place, and failure to do this will have a significant impact on the international trade in poultry, eggs and breeding hens. So, what assessment has the Government made of the impact of bird flu on the risk to food security here in Wales, and international trade?

A spokesperson on behalf of the Government recently said, 

'Having analysed the available scientific evidence, we are not introducing mandatory housing of poultry in Wales at this time',

as you've already mentioned. Now, following today's statement, I would like to hear more information about the risk to the public posed by this flu. Last week, for example, we heard about two poultry farm workers from Spain who tested positive for bird flu. Since 2003, there have been 868 cases of people getting bird flu and 456 deaths in 21 countries, according to the World Health Organization. In light of the increase in cases of people getting bird flu, what assessment has the Government made of the risk to the public? Thank you very much.

Diolch. I'll start with the questions around public health risk, because obviously I hadn't been asked those questions before, and it is good to be able to reiterate that the UK Health Security Agency's advice is that the risk to public health from this virus is very low, and the UK Food Standards Agency's advice is that AI poses a very low food-safety risk for UK consumers. Properly cooked poultry and poultry products, and that obviously includes eggs, are safe to eat. No bird-to-human transmission of AI either—. Well, it's very, very rare, but we certainly haven't seen any cases here. Over many years, we've only seen it a very, very small number of times across the UK. So, just to reiterate, the risk to the wider public from AI continues to be very low, but I would like to say that no-one should pick up or touch a sick or dead bird. Instead, just report that to the Animal and Plant Health Agency. 

I certainly won't be following England's lead, as you put it, as I said in my answers to Sam Kurtz. What I do is listen to my chief veterinary officer, just as the Scottish Minister listens to hers, and obviously the UK Government Minister listens to hers also. And the advice I've been given at the moment is that mandatory housing is not required at the current time. That might change, particularly if we do see cases of AI into the spring, which we certainly think we may have. We have had no let-up this year. It normally starts around October, as I said in my opening statement, when we see these migrating birds, and, unfortunately, I think we've had cases across the UK, predominantly in England, every month for the past year. When I referred to two cases since October, you might wonder why I said that, but that's how the counting starts; the counting starts on 1 October. So, we're now into the second year, if you like, of the outbreak that we've unfortunately had.

So, as I said in my earlier answers, this is reviewed on a daily basis, and the mandatory housing, if we believe it is necessary, I will certainly not hesitate. I've done it before; it's not an issue of not wanting to do it. We do it when the chief veterinary officer and the scientific advice that he has tells us that we should do it.

I thank the Trefnydd.