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There will always remain a concern. Even if we implement the restrictions across GB on imports of dogs, cats and ferrets—and I hope that doing so will significantly impact the illegal trade that currently takes place—we have to be cognisant that criminal enterprises and organisations tend to be behind many of those movements, and they will be looking for any avenue to get access. There will always be the threat that there could be exports or movements of animals into Northern Ireland from the EU that would then have access to Scotland. We will just have to pay close attention to that. I hope that, with all the measures that are proposed in the bill, the powers that we are given and the regulations that will come in future will have a significant impact on that trade. However, we will have to keep a close watch on that element.

Thank you for having me here to speak about the regulations. The draft instrument would amend retained European Commission regulation 589/2008 on the marketing standards for eggs with regard to checks done on imported class A eggs. At the moment, checks for class A egg marketing standards take place at the place of destination, such as egg packing centres and wholesale premises. However, for eggs imported from third countries, the retained EU regulation requires that the checks are carried out at the time of customs clearance. Given that the UK has left the EU, a greater number of checks would need to be made at the border. Therefore, the instrument would amend the regulations to enable marketing standards checks to continue to be undertaken on imported class A eggs at the place of destination, rather than at customs. The checks are and would continue to be undertaken by suitably qualified egg marketing inspectors prior to release for retail sale or mass catering.

The instrument would also enable checks on imported class A eggs to take place where resources are already established and where there is already expertise. We believe that that approach would be more efficient and practical. In reality, there are currently no imports of eggs directly into Scotland from the EU or elsewhere, other than infrequent and small quantities from the Republic of Ireland, although some eggs arrive in Scotland from the EU via English ports. For that reason, the UK and Welsh Governments are taking forward corresponding amendments for their jurisdictions.

I hope that those remarks are helpful in setting out the rationale for the draft instrument. Of course, I am happy to take any questions that committee members might have.

It gives us the power to introduce regulations that will help to prevent the importing of dogs with mutilations that, at the moment, are illegal right across the UK.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission has done work on that, too. The regulations will have a significant impact when they are introduced along with some of the measures that I have mentioned such as the minimum age at which animals can be imported, which were the subject of a recent consultation that closed in October, the results of which we are currently analysing. I hope that they will stop the importation of dogs with such mutilations.

Obviously, a consultation was undertaken when we were introducing the licensing regulations, but some of the issues that we are looking to address today came to light only when we were developing the guidance for local authorities and working with our animal welfare stakeholders. We have been working closely with them through this process and in developing that guidance. That is why we are bringing the amending regulations forward today to address those issues. Although there was no formal consultation on the amending regulations, we are in close engagement all the time so that we can identify such issues and address them.

Again, that is something that we would monitor closely, but I would say that the licensing regulations that we introduced and which came into force on 1 September modernised the whole licensing system. They made it more robust, so I think that we have gone a long way in trying to tackle some of the issues that have been experienced, but of course this is something that we will continue to monitor. As I said in previous responses, we are continually in close engagement with animal welfare stakeholders, so, if other issues emerge that we need to consider, we will, of course, look to do that.

As I have said, we have proposed these amendments as a result of the engagement that we have had with animal welfare stakeholders in developing the detailed guidance for local authorities. We work closely with the likes of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. We have worked with it in developing training and a toolkit that can be used. We will, of course, monitor this closely. We are in regular engagement with the SSPCA, Cats Protection and other animal welfare charities and organisations, so, of course, through that regular engagement, we will pick up on any issues that there are. We also have the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission, which deals with particular issues. I just want to assure members and the committee that we are in close contact with all our stakeholders in the hope that we can pick up any early issues that emerge through this process. The licensing regulations that we introduced and the amendments that we are proposing today have been welcomed by those stakeholders.

Good morning. I am happy to appear before the committee today to discuss this amending instrument, which makes some minor amendments to the 2021 licensing regulations, which were approved by the Scottish Parliament in February and came into force on 1 September. As the amendments that are proposed are not contentious and they are monitored both in terms of their impact and their scope, I will keep my opening remarks brief. The amendments that are being considered today amend the conditions that are applicable to two out of the six licence types that are available under the 2021 licensing regulations, namely animal rehoming licences and animal welfare establishment licences. Other types of licence are unaffected.

The change that is specific to animal rehoming activities is the removal of the prohibition on the supply of kittens—that is, cats under six months old—as pets if they are not bred by the licence holder. That change will permit persons who hold a licence to engage in animal rehoming activities, including foster carers working with animal welfare charities, to rehome kittens. The need for the change was brought to the attention of the Scottish Government during discussions with Cats Protection on the development of detailed guidance for local authorities. Given the significant issues with the unlicensed puppy trade, we do not propose to remove the corresponding prohibition on the supply of puppies, which applies to holders of a licence to engage in animal rehoming activities, as to do so would, no doubt, encourage those involved in that trade to attempt to use animal rehoming as a cover for their unlicensed breeding and dealing activities.

Stakeholders also brought to our attention during discussions on the development of guidance for local authorities that there would be merit in mirroring certain safeguards that are included in the conditions applicable to rehoming activities in those that apply to animal welfare establishments. Accordingly, these amending regulations will prohibit holders of a licence to operate an animal welfare establishment from supplying unweaned mammals, mammals weaned at an age at which they should not have been weaned, non-mammals that are incapable of feeding themselves and puppies, kittens, ferrets and rabbits aged under eight weeks. Although it is very unlikely that a holder of an animal welfare establishment licence would supply such an animal, we have agreed that the inclusion of the additional conditions is appropriate and merited, as it further safeguards the welfare of particularly vulnerable animals.

I hope that the committee will agree that, although the changes that we seek to make to the 2021 regulations are relatively minor in nature, they are important because they remove a restriction that has the potential to impact on the rehoming activities of Cats Protection, given its routine use of foster homes as part of its rehoming activities. It also brings forward some additional protections for particularly vulnerable animals under the care of those operating animal welfare establishments.

I will be happy to take any questions that the committee may have.

I thank the member for raising that concern, but I would say that we are proposing this amendment only because it came to light through discussions with Cats Protection as we were developing the guidance for local authorities. We did not have any objection to making this amendment to the regulations, but, of course, we want to monitor the situation to make sure that there are no adverse impacts. We are in regular engagement with animal welfare stakeholders and with other organisations, too, so we would be in close contact if any issues came to light. Certainly, from what we have proposed so far and from discussions with Cats Protection and other animal welfare stakeholders, this is an amendment that has been welcomed.

On your first point about the 3-mile limit, we have not agreed to nor adopted such a policy because we do not agree with taking a blanket approach, given how different and variable the coastline of Scotland is. A tailored approach is seen to be a lot more effective and beneficial.

The work that we have done through the future fisheries management strategy, with the regional inshore fisheries groups, looking at where local management can work, has been vital in helping to inform how we move forward and how we handle some of the issues that you outlined. So far, we have taken an approach of engagement and consultation, looking at the different environments surrounding coastal communities in Scotland. That approach makes sense, and we fully intend to continue with it.

It is not solely an islands affair, but ferries fall within the remit of the transport minister, so, if the committee was looking to do any specific pieces of work on that, he would be best placed to respond to that.