My Lords, I am grateful for noble Lords’ comments. A number of key questions were asked.
The first question concerns science. I stress to the noble Lords who spoke—particularly the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, and my noble friend Lady McIntosh—that this is the basis of what we need to do going forward. The UK will continue to ensure that relevant data is
collected and reviewed by a replacement scientific body. The replacement UK advisory structure is in development; in the meantime, as I said in my opening remarks, we retain access. Let me also say—although I will embellish this—that our discards policy will continue to be scientifically justified. The UK fisheries administrations will also need to comply with obligations under all other legislation to ensure that our discards policy is scientifically justified, including the Fisheries Act with its scientific evidence objective.
The noble Lord, Lord Teverson, and my noble friend Lady McIntosh referred specifically to ICES. The UK has been an independent member of ICES since it was established in 1902 and will continue to play a strong role in its future. The UK will continue to set the gold standard for sustainable fishing and the protection of the marine environment around the world after the transition period ends. The MoU will be signed, ready for it to come into force on 1 January.
On funding, I repeat that the Government made a manifesto commitment to maintain funding for the sector and will replace the EMFF with new domestic schemes from 2021. The devolved Administrations will lead on their own schemes. In addition to the EMFF, we committed an additional £2 million to support health and safety projects and a further £10 million to establish the Seafood Innovation Fund; that will run until 2022.
The important issues of discard plans and the landing obligation were raised. From next year, we can, for the first time, develop a discards policy that is tailored to our marine environment and industry. In our 2018 fisheries White Paper, we were clear that the UK Government will
“continue to work towards ending the wasteful practice of fish discards”,
but challenges stemming from the EU-implemented landing obligation are widely recognised. In future, we will have the opportunity to be creative and adopt new measures outside of the current CFP toolkit to implement a workable discard ban. Sections in the Fisheries Act set out provisions that will allow us to introduce one such measure: a discard prevention charging scheme. This will provide a mechanism allowing fishers to pay for additional quota to cover any excess catch that would otherwise push them into illegal fishing.
On who is responsible for enforcing discard rules, I can reaffirm for the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, that no changes are intended. Enforcement will continue via the MMO and the relevant devolved Administration enforcement authorities.
The noble Lord, Lord Teverson, mentioned quotas. Under Section 24 of the Fisheries Act, the Secretary of State may make a determination of the UK quotas. This would usually occur in accordance with any obligations resulting from negotiations with other coastal states, but the Secretary of State could make a determination that did not flow from negotiations. Such a determination may cover fishing effort as well as quota.
On the Maritime and Fisheries Fund, while the devolved Administrations will lead on their own schemes, as I said, in England, the Government’s objectives include innovation, improving port infrastructure, boosting
coastal communities and supporting the sector in adjusting to the new arrangements. As I said, England has also repurposed £5 million from its MFF scheme for Covid support in that regard.
The noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, raised timing and whether we were dealing with an out of date SI. It is a moot point. Changes we are making to the EU regulations that will form part of retained law will come into effect only at the end of the year, when that retained EU law begins to function. We thought that there would be no advantage in fixing these earlier. In fact, we felt that two SIs now would be appropriate, rather than perhaps multiple SIs throughout the year, particularly given the fact that parliamentary time was limited.
We had a good discussion about REM throughout the passage of what was then the Fisheries Bill. We were all on the same page. I will reply in particular to the noble Lord, Lord Teverson. There were 45 responses to the consultation. I think we all agree that the basis for REM is that it will provide many advantages, which will help us ensure that we have more sustainability.
My noble friend Lady McIntosh asked about the TAC and sustainability. Achieving healthy fish stocks is the first step to vibrant commercial and recreational fishing industries. The Fisheries Act sets out our commitments to sustainable fishing. The joint fisheries statement, which will be drafted and adopted by the UK Government and the devolved Administrations, will set out our policies to achieve the fisheries objectives set out in Section 1 of the Act. As an independent coastal state, we are committed to working closely with our partners, including the EU, Norway and the Faroe Islands, to manage shared fish stocks sustainably. The noble Lord, Lord Teverson, in particular raised that. Of course all of us in these waters need to be responsible. The UK will work with others to have vibrant fish stocks in all our waters and shared waters.
On Northern Ireland, yes, this is technical, and it took me a few readings to get what I understand to be correct. The Northern Ireland protocol recognises that a technical exercise is required to ensure that Northern Ireland fishing vessels landing into Northern Ireland are exempt from custom duties. The UK Government fully recognise the importance of the fishing industry to Northern Ireland and are clear that there should be no unacceptable new requirements.
The noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, asked about reporting requirements and our international obligations. They will remain the same. We will continue to report, as we have done before, as an independent coastal state, while being mindful that we can make some proper decisions from the data we all supply. PSMA requirements would be enforced by the ports into which foreign vessels land, as they are now.
I should also refer to a point that I think addresses the ClientEarth issue. As explained in the Explanatory Memorandum that accompanies the instrument, Article 138 of the withdrawal agreement provides for EU legislation relating to the 2014-20 EMFF to apply in the UK directly. By virtue of the wording of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, legislation that applies in this way is not replicated in retained EU law. As such, our amendments are simply to remove
previous deficiency corrections made before the withdrawal agreement was entered into, in recognition of the fact this legislation will no longer form part of EU law.
A number of points came up on this issue, but I absolutely confirm that we have been working with interested parties and businesses to ensure that arrangements are in place across the nation and in Northern Ireland for 1 January. As I said, we are working to ensure that all is in order for 1 January. There are bound to be some further points that I will relate in more detail in a written reply. The issue of the designation of ports was raised. I am pretty confident that we will set out the list of designated ports vis-à-vis Northern Ireland by 16 December, which is a key part of that preparedness. On that basis, and with the promise of further correspondence, I beg to move.