Chapter 2: Intervention in Agricultural Markets Section 22: Modification of certain retained direct EU legislation in connection with exceptional market conditions and for general purposes
Section 22 gives the Secretary of State the power to amend the retained direct EU legislation for England relating to public intervention and private storage aid. The aim of EU public intervention and private storage aid is to provide a safety net to farmers by removing surplus products from the market and thereby stabilising market prices. The market price of certain goods is monitored, so that when the market situation so requires, eligible goods may be bought in, stored and resold once prices have risen (public intervention buying) or producers may be paid to store products for an agreed period to remove them from the market (private storage aid).
	Subsection (1) enables the Secretary of State to modify the legislation so that the operation of such schemes may be tailored to prevailing domestic circumstances when they are used in a period of exceptional market conditions established in section 20.
	Subsection (2) enables the Secretary of State to modify the legislation for either or both of the following purposes:
	Subsection (2)(a) amends either scheme in such a way as it ceases to have affect in England (with savings made for the operation of the schemes in exceptional market conditions under section 20).
	Subsection (2)(b) amends the general operation of either scheme.
	Subsection (3) states that the power in subsection (1) includes the power to make specific amendments to the public intervention and private storage aid schemes that apply only in relation to a particular exceptional market condition declared under section 20.
	Subsection (4) states that the powers conferred under subsections (1) and (2) include the ability to change what agricultural products are eligible for public intervention and private storage aid.
	Subsection (5) sets out regulations made under this section are subject to the negative resolution procedure, unless section 50(5) applies, in which case the procedure is affirmative.
	Subsection (6) sets out the retained direct EU legislation that concerns public intervention and private storage aid, and which is referred to in sections 20 and 21.
	Subsection (7) explains that until paragraph 1 of Schedule 7 of the Act, which revokes the existing crisis measures powers in the CMO (articles 219, 220, 221 and 222 of EU Regulation 1308/2013), is in force; references in this section to exceptional market conditions subject to a declaration under section 20 also includes reference to actions being undertaken under the existing crisis powers.
	If the Secretary of State deems public intervention or private storage aid as the most appropriate means of addressing the exceptional market conditions, any amendments necessary to the retained EU legislation would need to be made urgently, as an intervention scheme could not be implemented until those changes had been made.