Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Members of the Senedd will wish to be aware that we are giving consent to the Secretary of State exercising a subordinate legislation-making power in a devolved area in relation to Wales.
Agreement was sought by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Baroness Hayman of Ullock to make the Phytosanitary Conditions (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (‘the Regulations’). The Regulations apply to Wales, England and Scotland.
The Regulations amend Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 establishing uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 (“the Plant Health Regulation”) as regards protective measures against pests of plants. In accordance with the Plant Health Regulation, the Secretary of State approached the Welsh and Scottish Ministers for consent to the application of the Regulations to Wales and Scotland respectively. The Secretary of State has conducted a consultation (a summary of which appears in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Regulations).
The Regulations protect biosecurity and support trade between Great Britain (“GB”) and third countries by introducing and amending protective measures against pests of plants. They make amendments which have been proposed through an ongoing process of risk assessment to identify threats to GB biosecurity. They:
- move the pests, Neodiprion abietis (known as the balsam fir sawfly) and Pseudomonas avellanae (a bacterial pathogen that causes hazelnut decline), from the list of Provisional Quarantine Pests to the list of Quarantine Pests (“QPs”). QPs are listed pests absent from GB (or under official control) which pose an unacceptable risk to GB, as they would cause economic/environmental damage if introduced. These pests have been assessed as meeting the criteria to be QPs, as a result of a risk and horizon scanning process;
- remove the pest Tobacco ringspot virus from the QP list, instead adding it to the Regulated Non-Quarantine Pest list;
- revise the list of plants for planting that are currently regulated as hosts of Tomato ringspot virus;
- amend the list of commodities regulated as hosts of Agrilus planipennis (known as emerald ash borer). As with (b) and (c), these measures were introduced on a risk basis to protect GB biosecurity and have since been reviewed following recent scientific developments;
- update the references to conifer species, following taxonomic changes, to cover all conifer plants given these could similarly be associated with high-risk pests;
- introduce consequential amendments to Annex 11 to align the list of plants, plant products and other objects and the respective third countries of origin or dispatch in respect of which phytosanitary certificates are required;
- carry out technical updates to clarify certain import requirements and to formalise an existing trade easement.
The Regulations are subject to the negative procedure and were laid before the UK Parliament on 8 May 2025. There is no policy divergence between the Welsh and UK Government in this matter and the Regulations amend legislation that was not made bilingually. The Regulations neither impact on the legislative competence of the Senedd nor the executive competence of the Welsh Ministers.
Although the Welsh Government’s general principle is that subordinate legislation in devolved areas should be enacted by the Welsh Ministers where there is executive competence, on this occasion it is considered appropriate for the Regulations to be made by the Secretary of State. The Regulations relate to a devolved area, however, they impact on the biosecurity of GB which has traditionally been approached as a joint concern. GB is an island and plant pests and diseases have no respect for the borders between countries. Much of the Regulations relate to the importation of plants and plant products. Most of these goods which enter Wales come through English ports. Introducing separate regulations in Wales, England and Scotland would risk divergence on matters of biosecurity on which policy is aligned, may hamper enforcement by cross border bodies and place an additional burden on the Animal and Plant Health Agency (which enforces plant health across Wales and England) and businesses. Where policy is aligned, legislating on a GB basis assists those stakeholders who must comply with the requirements within the legislation to maintain our biosecurity.