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For agenda item 3, a paper has been circulated to members, which I hope they have looked at. I make members aware that a separate European Union update item will be on the agenda of our next meeting.
We might request a report on any forthcoming marine legislation that might apply to Scotland. Spatial planning and integrated coastal zone management will obviously be worth knowing about if for no reason other than educational purposes. It is worth keeping up with that topic.
That is probably worth while in any case because we will consider the forthcoming flooding bill and then the marine bill. Such an update will be useful in both cases. Are there any other points?
I have one point that might fall within the tracking of the agricultural matters that have been highlighted. I read recently about so-called proposals for the electronic tagging of sheep. If that falls within the tracking exercise, we should certainly look at it to see what is emerging, given the parlous state of the sheep farming industry and the costs involved.
That matter is part of the paperwork that we will agree later today.
That is fine as long as the matter is picked up explicitly.
It is the subject of one of the Scottish statutory instruments that we will consider under item 4.
I was also thinking about the matter in terms of European processes and legislation.
It is being driven by very old European legislation from which there has been derogation for the United Kingdom for many years. Regrettably, we are now moving away from that derogation.
I just wanted to make sure that nothing was coming up on the wider European agenda that would overtake us on that issue later in the year. We should ensure that we monitor the situation.
Nothing appears to be coming up on the specific concerns that are raised in the Scottish context, but we will note the matter and ask for a separate check. It is not mentioned in our current paper, but we will ask for a weather eye to be kept on it.
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Rural Housing Inquiry