Rural Affairs and Islands Committee [Draft]

Meeting date: Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Official Report 842KB pdf

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Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill

Our third item of business is consideration of the legislative consent memorandum for the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill. I welcome Gillian Martin, Minister for Energy and the Environment, and her supporting officials, Andrew Voas, veterinary head of animal welfare, and Grant McLarty, solicitor, Scottish Government. I invite the minister to make an opening statement.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the legislative consent memorandum to give effect in Scotland to the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill. The bill will make provision in relation to the welfare of animals, principally by prohibiting the export of livestock from Great Britain for slaughter and fattening for slaughter. The bill also repeals outdated legislation regarding the export of horses.

The Scottish Government proposes legislative consent to the bill in so far as it makes provision within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government commits to work with the other Administrations to seek the end of unnecessary long-distance transport of animals for fattening or slaughter outside the UK.

We are a little disappointed that key commitments previously made to improve protection for wildlife and animals in the promised Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill are not included, which would have delivered a package of joint welfare measures across GB. However, this stand-alone bill provides an opportunity to have consistent control over such exports and to assist enforcement agencies to ensure that such unnecessary movements no longer take place. Those measures have been called for by many of the main animal welfare organisations, and the Scottish Government very much supports their introduction.

The Scottish Government recognises, however, that for the measures in the bill to be successful, they should be introduced consistently across Great Britain. Consistent legislative measures across GB will also assist when it comes to interpretation and enforcement of new controls, and a co-ordinated, GB-wide approach to tackling issues that are covered by the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill is widely supported and welcomed by many key stakeholders.

Allowing the UK Parliament to legislate for all GB Administrations in this area is the most timely, efficient and effective way to achieve these important changes. However, I need to be absolutely clear that we will not implement anything that could jeopardise the livelihoods of our farmers and crofters who rely on being able to move livestock between their islands and the mainland. Should any attempt be made to introduce any such restrictions in this GB-wide bill, the Scottish Government would withdraw its consent and introduce our own legislation to limit the extent of application to export. I am sure that the committee would wish to support that approach.

However, I am assured that our position is understood and accepted by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and I do not anticipate there being any issues in the passage of the bill, nor any need to withdraw our consent. I am happy to take any questions that you might have.

Just to clarify, animal welfare is devolved, so could you at any point take a different approach to the matter?

We opted not to do that in this case, because it makes sense to have a GB-wide approach. We are content with everything that is in the bill as it stands, as it pretty much replicates what we would have wanted. However, we have the power, if we want to take our own statutory instrument forward, to create a separate scheme, but we do not see any reason to do that at this stage.

Can you clarify something? You mentioned the export of animals from Scottish islands to mainland Scotland. What discussions have you had with DEFRA, and how clear is it is on that point?

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands has been leading on that issue. The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, which was the bill that fell, had exactly the same provisions that this bill has. All of this has been a long-standing discussion. In effect, the UK Government has taken that part of the kept animals bill and put it into a new bill.

Mairi Gougeon and her officials had extensive discussions about the particular issues that you raise, and we are confident that they have been heard. There is no provision at the moment to have anything that would mean that the export or the travel of animals from island producers to the mainland will be impacted at all by the bill.

My question is on that issue, but you have given some assurances on the direction of the bill when it comes to animal exports. The welfare concerns are more to do with the inability of those who are exporting animals to have any control over their welfare conditions. The bill is not about animal welfare concerns that relate to animals on ferries, in which case we should have no concerns that future legislation might have an impact on animals that are moved from Orkney or Shetland to the mainland.

You are exactly right, convener. We cannot be sure that the places where animals are exported to for fattening and slaughter have the same conditions that we would expect.

A very minor point has just cropped up in my mind—I apologise. I presume that the bill is about fattening and slaughter, so is it correct to say that high-value breeding animals going, for example, across to Northern Ireland will not be impacted by the legislation?

The bill does not cover breeding, so export for breeding is still allowed. If an animal is going across to the EU to breed and then stays there, it could be slaughtered at a future point in its life. It does not affect export for the express purposes of breeding.

We have no further questions. I thank you and your officials for attending this morning. The committee will review the evidence that we have just heard and discuss our report on the LCM in our next agenda item. That concludes our business in public.

12:23 Meeting continued in private until 12:25.