The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 8) Regulations 2021

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (Wales) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/574 (W. 132)) (the “International Travel Regulations”).

The International Travel Regulations impose requirements on persons entering Wales after having been abroad. They include a requirement for persons arriving in Wales to isolate for a period determined in accordance with those Regulations. The requirements imposed by the International Travel Regulations are subject to exceptions, and certain categories of person are exempt from having to comply. Persons entering Wales after being in one or more of the countries and territories listed in Schedule 3 to the International Travel Regulations are not required to isolate. The countries and territories listed in Schedule 3 are referred to as “exempt countries and territories”.

Regulation 3 of these Regulations amends Schedule 3 to the International Travel Regulations to remove Portugal from the list of exempt countries and territories outside the common travel area.

Non-exempt persons are prohibited from entering Wales where they have been in a country or territory listed in Schedule 3A to the International Travel Regulations within the last 10 days of arrival, pursuant to regulation 12E of the International Travel Regulations. Regulation 4 of these Regulations amends Schedule 3A to add Afghanistan, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Trinidad and Tobago to the list of countries and territories subject to additional measures.

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations.