Health and Sport Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Official Report 467KB pdf

European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018

Fishery Products (Official Controls Charges) (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 [Draft]

Good morning and welcome to the seventh meeting in 2019 of the Health and Sport Committee. We have received apologies this morning from Miles Briggs and Sandra White. I ask everyone to ensure that their mobile phones are switched off or to silent, and that no one uses mobile devices to record proceedings or take photographs, please.

Agenda items 1, 2 and 3 are consideration of regulations that are related to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The purpose of the draft Fishery Products (Official Controls Charges) (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 is to make minor technical amendments to the Fishery Products (Official Controls Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2007, to ensure that they will continue to function as required after the United Kingdom exits the European Union.

Agenda item 1 is to consider the categorisation of the instrument. Under the protocol that has been agreed between the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament on the process for considering Scottish statutory instruments that are laid under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, the SSI has been categorised as being of low significance. Categorisation assists committees’ prioritisation and gives the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee a role in highlighting any concerns that it might have about the Scottish Government’s categorisation.

The instrument has, as it must be, been laid under affirmative procedure on the basis that certain amendments in the regulations relate to a fee in respect of a function that is exercisable by a public authority in the UK.

The DPLR Committee considered the instrument at its meeting on 19 February 2019. It agreed that the instrument had been given the appropriate categorisation and determined that it did not need to draw the instrument to Parliament’s attention on any grounds in its remit.

No members have comments on the categorisation of the instrument. Does the committee agree that it is appropriate to have categorised it as being of low significance?

Members indicated agreement.