The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel, Operator Liability and Public Health Information to Travellers) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Public Health Information for Persons Travelling to Wales etc.) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/595 (W. 136)) (“the Passenger Information Regulations”) impose requirements on operators of international passenger services coming from outside the common travel area to an airport, heliport or seaport in Wales (“operators”), to provide passengers with specified public health information. These Regulations amend the Passenger Information Regulations so that that specified information includes information about the requirement under regulation 6A of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (Wales) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/574 (W. 132)) (“the International Travel Regulations”), to possess notification of a negative coronavirus test result.

These Regulations also amend the International Travel Regulations to;

(a) reduce the amount of passenger information that people travelling to Wales are required to provide in order to comply with the requirement in regulation 4 of the International Travel Regulations; and

(b) add an exemption from the requirement to possess notification of a negative coronavirus test result for air crew who perform duties onboard aircraft in the interests of the safety of the aircraft, such as loadmasters.

These Regulations also amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel, Pre-Departure Testing and Operator Liability) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/48 (W. 11)) so that operators are not required to ensure that a notification of a negative coronavirus test result is in the form of a “qualifying test”, i.e., a test which meets the standards specified in paragraph 1 of Schedule 1A to the International Travel Regulations. Operators are required to check that passengers possess a notification of a coronavirus test which includes specified information, while liability for ensuring the result was from a qualifying test falls on the passenger.

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 cost and benefit of complying with these Regulations.