Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Official Report 690KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Private Storage Aid Scheme (Pigmeat) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/398)

Our second agenda item is consideration of a piece of subordinate legislation. This instrument is subject to the negative procedure. I refer members to paper 3 and to pages 21 to 24 in our papers pack.

Does any member wish to raise any issues regarding the instrument?

Would it be possible to write to the Scottish Government to ask for an update on how the scheme is running and what the sector is saying about how effective the scheme has been in supporting the industry?

We can certainly do that. We can write to the Scottish Government with any queries.

We should also ask about issues relating to the Chinese licence being withdrawn and whether the Covid outbreak at the pig abattoir in Brechin affected the Scottish Government’s decision to bring forward the intervention.

Okay. I would like to ask how the private storage aid scheme links in with the previous hardship scheme—which ran for, I think, three weeks—and whether the Government has any plans to reintroduce that scheme.

I would also like to raise the issue of potential fraud when funding is provided to store carcases. What checks are in place to ensure that carcases are not processed early and released back into the food chain, with the use of butchering facilities outwith Scotland? We should also find out how much funding is available in total through the scheme.

I would like to know which budget the funding is coming from. Producers are obviously incredibly important to animal welfare so, from their point of view, I would like to know the capacity of the scheme.

We should ask about capacity in order to know what volume will be stored. In addition, will there be a market trigger for when the meat can be released back into the food chain?

As there are no more comments, are members content to note the instrument?

Members indicated agreement.

I will write to the cabinet secretary with the questions that have been raised on the instrument.

That concludes the committee’s public business.

12:26 Meeting continued in private until 12:51.