Chamber and committees

Mercedes Villalba has a supplementary question, but I will bring in Jim Fairlie first, because he has a particular view on guns being part of the legislation.

I am going to jump out of the question order that members are expecting, because, right now, we are focusing on the two-dog limit. Ariane Burgess has a question on that, so I will bring her in now.

Rachael Hamilton will be next, to be followed by Mercedes Villalba.

We have no further questions, Lord Bonomy. Do you have any closing comments?

I want to clarify something. The approach is quite straightforward in that importers will notify what they are importing through paperwork and electronically. That might be a lorry full of bean seeds, which are low risk, so only 3 per cent might be checked, or Ii could be a lorry full of potatoes, 50 per cent of which might be checked, because they are higher risk. Why is it proposed that 30 per cent of some plant products in annex 2 in the minister’s letter will be checked? That is not one of the standard five frequencies, which are 3, 5, 10, 50 and 100 per cent. Why on earth will 30 per cent of some plant products be checked?

I think that Robbie Marsland indicated that he wishes to come in on that.

Okay. Thank you.

That brings us to the end of this session. I thank all the witnesses for attending either remotely or in person. Your evidence has been very useful.

I will suspend the meeting to allow for a changeover of witnesses.

We will now look more specifically at the bill. I will bring in Mercedes Villalba.

That ends our evidence session. I thank you all for your valuable evidence, which will help to inform our work as we move forward.

We will suspend for a comfort break and a changeover of witnesses.

You said that you do not use dogs to help control foxes, but what is that decision based on? Given that the witnesses on the previous panel said that hunting with dogs is sometimes the most animal welfare-minded way to control foxes—it might be the only way to control them effectively in undergrowth or whatever—what did RSPB Scotland base that decision on?