12. What assessment has the Minister made of the health of the Welsh egg industry? OQ58957

Thank you. The egg industry has been impacted by cost inflation rising through 2021 and latterly by avian influenza. These are common factors across the UK, with Welsh egg producers and packers integrated into UK-wide supply chains. We anticipate UK-level Government-industry discussion to consider means to bring stability to producer contracts.

Thank you for that response, Minister. I'm very pleased that you do recognise the pressures that are out there in the egg industry. As you will know, Wales is the biggest producer of free-range eggs in Europe, and that is something that means that this is a particularly important issue for Wales, perhaps more so than any other part of the United Kingdom. But those pressures on producers are becoming all the more acute. We've seen shortages of eggs in our supermarkets, with some supermarkets actually rationing them in recent months. And we've seen significant rises, of course, for consumers. In terms of the retail price, they've gone up by about £1 a dozen, and yet the producer costs have gone up by 40p a dozen, and, unfortunately, the increase in the payments by the supermarkets per dozen is just 25p. So, lots of egg producers are actually now facing losses as a result of those shifting prices. Can I ask you, Minister, will you convene a summit between the supermarkets and egg producers in order that we can get fair prices for our egg farmers here in Wales, in order to protect this industry for the future?

Thank you. I think you make a very important point, and I think it's really important to highlight that it's not just avian influenza that's impacting on our egg producers. There is a series of issues that have brought together a bit of a perfect storm. I think any such summit would need to be at a UK level, for the reasons I outlined in my original answer. I have written to Mark Spencer, the Minister for farming, fisheries and food, and we've got an inter-ministerial group on Monday, and certainly egg production will be on the agenda. If it's not, I'll bring it up under 'any other business'. He brought forward a round-table, which unfortunately other Ministers weren't invited to. My officials were there, so I'm not saying we weren't involved. But I think it would be good for Ministers to be able to meet with the egg supply chain, with producers, with retailers, with packers, with all the trade bodies, which is what he did with officials there. So, I have written to him, asking for an update. I only wrote on 15 December, so, obviously, with Christmas, I haven't had a response as yet. But I do think it does need a UK-wide—. I could certainly meet with the supermarkets, and I do meet with the supermarkets regularly, where we do have discussions, but I think if we're going to have a summit of the type I think you're referring to, it would be better to do that on a UK-wide level.

Thank you to the Minister. All tabled questions answered well within allocated time—it's making me think we should go back to 15 questions being allowed to be tabled, with that record. Thank you to the Minister.