How will a clear regulatory baseline be set within legislation for national minimum standards, as part of the transition to the new sustainable farming scheme?
A regulatory baseline for National Minimum Standards (NMS) already exists.
The regulatory system, which relies upon numerous Regulations established under several of Acts of the UK Parliament and Welsh Senedd, provides a regulatory baseline for all farmers in Wales not only those participating in a scheme. These can be extended to participants of the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS).
Officials are considering whether further primary powers are required for Welsh Ministers to appropriately regulate the agricultural environment in the future through NMS. This work is also considering how to best manage the existing regulatory regime in light of the introduction of the SFS, and whether there is a need to consolidate or refine the existing regulatory requirements to provide clarity for farmers and regulators in future.