Arable Area Payments Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

• (3) A farmer may apply fertiliser to any agricultural parcel of land managed in accordance with paragraph 4 during the current scheme year where a new green cover is being established in accordance with paragraph 4(1)(c) or (e) in that scheme year, provided that the total nitrogen content of that fertiliser is not more than 30 kilograms per hectare of the land to which it is applied.

• (4) A farmer shall not store, dump or otherwise dispose of any waste on the set-aside land concerned except that he may store organic waste in a field which forms all or part of the set-aside land where that organic waste is to be applied by him to that field in accordance with sub-paragraph (2).

• (5) A farmer may apply lime to set-aside land where that land is to be cropped in the following scheme year.

Application of fungicides and insecticides to the set-aside land

19

A farmer shall not apply fungicides or insecticides to the set-aside land concerned.

Application of herbicides to the set-aside land

20

• (1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), a farmer shall not apply herbicide to the set-aside land concerned unless—

• (a) it is of a type which either—

• (i) is absorbed into a plant primarily through the leaves and stem, or

• (ii) has been approved by the Department under regulation 5 of the Control of Pesticides Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987[^f00033] or under regulation 5, 7, 8 or 11 of the Plant Protection Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995[^f00034] and its application is not outside the coverage of the uses for which it has been approved; and

• (b) such application, if undertaken on guaranteed set-aside land or prior to 15th April in the current scheme year on any other form of set-aside land—

• (i) is not likely significantly to damage green cover on the land;

• (ii) is made prior to replacing green cover on the land in accordance with paragraph 15;

• (iii) is undertaken using herbicide applied either as a spot treatment or with a wick applicator; or

• (iv) is undertaken in order to create a bare fallow strip as permitted by paragraph 8(2), or to keep such a strip bare.

• (2) The Department shall on application from a farmer exempt him from the restriction imposed by sub-paragraph (1) so as to permit him to apply any herbicide to set-aside land in order to create a bare fallow strip permitted by paragraph 8(2) or keep such a strip bare, where the Department is satisfied that the application of herbicides in accordance with sub-paragraph (1)(b)(iv) has not been effective to prevent the growth of vegetation on that strip.

Retention of features on the set-aside land

21

A farmer shall not damage, destroy or remove—

• (a) any existing hedge or row of trees (including hedgerow trees);

• (b) any tree (not forming part of a hedge or row of trees) whose largest trunk, when measured 1.3 metres above the average ground level of the base of the tree, exceeds 25 centimetres in circumference;

• (c) any existing lake, lough, ditch, watercourse, pond or pool;

• (d) any existing vernacular building or stone wall; or

• (e) any archaeological feature or feature of historical importance,

which is situated on or adjacent to the set-aside land concerned unless he satisfies the Department either that it should be damaged, destroyed or removed for environmental or for safety reasons or that he is obliged to do so to comply with a legal requirement.

Part C — Special conditions Applying to Guaranteed Set-aside Land

Application of conditions to guaranteed set-aside land

22

The provisions of paragraphs 23 and 24 apply to guaranteed set-aside land.

Application of fertiliser, waste and lime to guaranteed set-aside land

23

• (1) Where guaranteed set-aside land is managed in accordance with paragraph 4, fertiliser may be applied to that land at any time between 1st March and 31st May (both dates inclusive) during the current scheme year where a green cover is to be established in accordance with that paragraph during that scheme year, provided that the total nitrogen content of all fertiliser applied to any agricultural parcel of the land during that period shall be no more than 30 kilograms per hectare of that parcel and that any fertiliser so applied contains no potassium or phosphorus in any form.

• (2) A farmer may apply fertiliser to guaranteed set-aside land if he satisfies the Department that the land is situated in an area known to be used as a feeding area by geese in winter and is to be managed as such an area.

• (3) A farmer may (subject to sub-paragraph (4)) apply organic waste to guaranteed set-aside land if that organic waste was produced on land—

• (a) which he farms as a single unit with the set-aside land and he satisfies the Department before applying the waste to the land that were he prevented from so applying it—

• (i) he could not reasonably otherwise deal with it except by applying it to the remainder of his holding; and

• (ii) such application to the remainder of his holding would result in an application of a greater concentration of nitrogen than is compatible with good agronomic or environmental practice; and

• (b) in relation to which he observes such conditions or limitations (if any) as are imposed by the Department in relation to any application so permitted.

• (4) The application to any agricultural parcel during the current scheme year of organic waste with a nitrogen content greater than 250 kilograms per hectare of that parcel shall not be permitted.

• (5) A farmer may apply lime to guaranteed set-aside land during the current scheme year where the current scheme year is the last one to which his undertaking to set aside the land (pursuant to Article 5 of Commission Regulation 762/94) is applicable and the land is to be cropped in the following scheme year.

Permitted agricultural production

24

• (1) A farmer may undertake permitted agricultural production on guaranteed set-aside land only to such extent as does not result in overgrazing of that land.

• (2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), “overgrazing” means grazing or otherwise stocking land with livestock in such numbers as adversely to affect the growth, quality or species composition of vegetation on that land to a significant degree.

Part D — Exception Relating to Environmental Transferred Set-aside Land

The application of organic waste and lime

25

• (1) A farmer may apply organic waste to an agricultural parcel of environmental transferred set-aside land where that waste was created as a result of the maintenance of a tree, hedge, stream or ditch on or immediately adjoining that agricultural parcel.

• (2) A farmer may apply lime to environmental transferred set-aside land where the land is to be cropped in the following scheme year.

SCHEDULE 3 — Requirements in relation to land set aside for the provision of specified raw materials

Retention of features on the set-aside land

1

A farmer shall not damage, destroy or remove—

• (a) any existing hedge or row of trees (including hedgerow trees);

• (b) any tree (not forming part of a hedge or row of trees) whose largest trunk, when measured 1.3 metres above the average ground level of the base of the tree, exceeds 25 centimetres in circumference;

• (c) any existing lake, lough, ditch, watercourse, pond or pool;

• (d) any existing vernacular building or stone wall; or

• (e) any archaeological feature or feature of historical importance,

which is situated on or adjacent to the set-aside land concerned unless he satisfies the Department either that it should be damaged, destroyed or removed for environmental or for safety reasons or that he is obliged to do so to comply with a legal requirement.

Application of fertilisers and waste to the set-aside land

2

If a farmer applies any fertiliser or waste to the set-aside land he shall only do so in accordance with the needs of the specified raw materials being produced on it.

Adjustment or annulment of contracts relating to the provision of specified raw materials grown on set-aside land

3

• (1) A farmer shall not adjust or annul any contract relating to set-aside land concerned, submitted to the Department in accordance with Article 4(1) of Commission Regulation 1586/97, pursuant to Article 5(2) of that Regulation, unless he has notified the Department of the proposed adjustment or annulment, and the collector or processor with whom the contract was made has similarly notified the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce at least 10 working days before such adjustment or annulment takes effect.

• (2) Where as a result of such adjustment or annulment any land set aside for the provision of specified raw materials is no longer to be used for such provision, the farmer shall—

• (a) dispose of any crop remaining on the land by a method which the Department is satisfied will result in its destruction; and

• (b) subject to sub-paragraph (3), be subject to the requirements of Schedule 2.

• (3) The Department may grant the farmer an exemption from any requirement of Schedule 2 where it considers that the imposition of such a requirement would be unreasonable having regard to the date on which the contract was adjusted or annulled in accordance with sub-paragraph (1).

Signed

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland on

R. S. Johnston — Assistant Secretary — 3rd November 1997.

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations revoke and replace the Arable Area Payments Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995. As respects Northern Ireland the Regulations implement and supplement provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1765/92 (“the Council Regulation”), which establishes a support system for producers of certain arable crops, and the Commission Regulations made under it, namely Commission Regulations (EC) No. 762/94, 658/96 (which repeals and replaces Commission Regulations (EEC) Nos. 2294/92, 2295/92 and 2780/92) and 1586/97 (which repeals and replaces Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 334/93).

Regulation 2(1) defines these various Regulations and by virtue of regulation 2(2) the definitions include amendments to them.

Under the support system established under Council Regulation 1765/92, producers of particular arable crops are entitled to receive a compensatory payment calculated according to the area which they have sown with such crops.

The level of compensatory payment per hectare in a particular locality is determined (in accordance with Articles 4 and 5 of the Council Regulation) by multiplying an amount per tonne by the average yield per hectare for the production region in which the land lies. Member States are required to define production regions for the purposes of this calculation in accordance with the criteria set out in Article 3 of the Council Regulation, which permits the yields so calculated to be adjusted in order to take account of structural differences between production regions. The production regions in Northern Ireland are defined in regulation 3(1), while regulation 3(2) sets out the method by which the yield calculated for each such region should be adjusted. Regulation 4 provides for yield calculation in relation to oilseed rape.

Article 9 of Council Regulation 1765/92 and Article 2(5) of Commission Regulation 658/96 provide for an exchange of land ineligible for compensatory payment with land which is so eligible. Regulation 6 provides for a farmer to apply for approval for such an exchange, and sets out the conditions for such approval to be granted.

Article 7 of the Council Regulation requires all producers claiming compensatory payments to set aside part of their arable land, unless they come within the exception for small producers, as defined in Article 8(2) of the Council Regulation. Except in circumstances justified by objective criteria laid down by Member States, land qualifying to be set aside must have been previously farmed by the producer setting it aside for at least 2 years (Article 3(4) of Commission Regulation 762/94) and the minimum area of land which he sets aside in each production region must be in a specified ratio to the cropped land in that region for which he claims payment (Article 9(2) of the same Regulation). The circumstances in which producers are exempted from the first requirement are set out in regulation 7 and Schedule 1, and those in which producers are exempted from the second requirement are set out in regulation 8.

To ensure protection of the environment, Member States are required to take appropriate measures relating to set-aside land (Article 3(3) of Commission Regulation 762/94). Regulation 9 and Schedules 2 and 3 specify the requirements to be met in relation to land set aside and set out how a green cover is to be established on land set aside.

Article 7 (7) of the Council Regulation permits a producer to transfer his set-aside requirement to another producer, in accordance with a plan presented in advance to the European Commission. Regulation 10 requires producers transferring their set-aside requirement in reliance on Article 7(7) to provide evidence to the Department that that transfer is undertaken in accordance with the plan submitted by the UK to the European Commission.

Land sown with specified categories of oilseed qualifies for compensatory payment only when seed conforms to a quality policy established by the Member State in accordance with Article 4 of Commission Regulation 658/96. Regulation 11 implements the quality policy in relation to each of the types of seed listed in Article 4(3) of that Regulation and also makes provision for a minimum sowing distance separation in relation to rapeseed. That regulation also provides for a similar minimum sowing distance separation in relation to rapeseed grown as a non-food crop on set-aside land (in implementation of Article 13 of Commission Regulation 1586/97).

The Regulations also—

• (a) prescribe the minimum size of an agricultural plot for which certain compensatory payments may be claimed (regulation 5);

• (b) require producers, collectors and processors to keep, retain and produce records (regulations 13 and 14);

• (c) specify the reductions in compensatory payments applicable to breaches of requirements relating to land set aside (regulation 15);

• (d) prescribe the rate of interest payable where a compensatory payment is recovered by the Department (regulation 16);

• (e) confer on authorised persons powers of entry for the purposes of the Regulations and require that such assistance be given to them for the exercise of their powers as they may reasonably request (regulations 17 and 18); and

• (f) create offences and penalties (regulation 19).

• The main changes to the regime effected by the Regulations are that— amendments are made in consequence of the abolition of the distinction between rotational and non-rotational set-aside effected by an amendment to Council Regulation 1765/92; provision is made, in implementation of Article 2(5) of Commission Regulation 658/96, for applications for approval to the exchange of ineligible and eligible land for the purpose of receipt of compensatory payments (regulation 6); provision is made to implement Articles 3 and 4 of Commission Regulation 658/96 (on certain conditions for granting payments under the support system for producers of certain arable crops) in respect of local standards for sowing distance separation for the sowing of rapeseed and a quality policy for rapeseed implemented by setting out restrictions on types of seeds eligible for compensatory payments (regulation 11); provision is made for application of Article 13 of Commission Regulation 1586/97 (which lays down implementing rules for the use of land set aside for the provision of non-food crops). It specifies the standards for sowing distance in relation to rapeseed subject to which access to set-aside compensatory payments is permitted (regulation 11); a restriction is introduced so that where a farmer has been authorised to act as an agent to take samples of farm-saved rapeseed for mandatory analysis required by Article 4(3) of Commission Regulation 658/96, then that authorisation shall not be taken to be an authorisation to sample any such seed to be sown by that farmer (regulation 11); a deadline is set for the declaration in respect of the delivery of non-food raw materials by a farmer to a collector or first processor as provided for by Articles 5(4) (for farmers) and 6(4) (for collectors or first processors) of Commission Regulation 1586/97. Provision is also made for the imposition of penalties for late declarations by farmers (regulation 12); amendments are made to Schedule 1 (derogations from the requirement to have farmed land for two years in order to set it aside). The entitlement to set aside land forming part of any recently acquired unit of 60 hectares or more, and land needed to satisfy regional requirements on setting land aside, is replaced by an entitlement to set aside up to 10 per cent of any recently acquired land, and to set aside land used or destined for organic farming. Also the entitlement to set aside land of which at least 10 per cent is farmed under sharefarming or similar agreements now arises with respect to land farmed under licence; the management rules for set-aside in Schedules 2 and 3 are clarified, notably in relation to the liming of set-aside land and the maintenance of the green cover; and the grounds on which a farmer may on application be exempted from one or more of the requirements of the set-aside management rules are widened to include the case where such an exemption is necessary to benefit a charity.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: S.I. 1972/1811

[^f00002]: 1972 c. 68; section 2 is subject to Schedule 2 to that Act and is to be read with S.I. 1984/703 (N.I. 3) and S.I. 1994/2795 (N.I. 15)

[^f00003]: O.J. No. L281, 25.9.92, p. 5, repealed by Commission Regulation 658/96 (O.J. No. L91, 12.4.96, p. 46)

[^f00004]: O.J. No. L391, 31.12.92, p. 36, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2015/95 (O.J. No. L197, 22.8.95, p. 2)

[^f00005]: O.J. No. L215, 7.8.97, p. 3

[^f00006]: O.J. No. L90, 7.4.94, p. 8, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2930/95 (O.J. No. L307, 20.12.95, p. 8)

[^f00007]: O.J. No. L91, 12.4.96, p. 46, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 729/97 (O.J. No. L108, 25.4.97, p. 25)

[^f00008]: O.J. No. L198, 22.7.91, p. 1, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 418/96 (O.J. No. L59, 8.3.96, p. 10)

[^f00009]: O.J. No. L181, 1.7.92, p. 12, as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 922/97 (O.J. No. L133, 24.5.97, p. 1)

[^f00010]: O.J. No. L380, 24.12.92, p. 24

[^f00011]: O.J. No. L206, 16.8.96, p. 41

[^f00012]: O.J. No. L215, 30.7.92, p. 85, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2772/95 (O.J. No. L288, 1.12.95, p. 35)

[^f00013]: O.J. No. L215, 30.7.92, p. 96, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 231/96 (O.J. No. L30, 8.2.96, p. 33)

[^f00014]: O.J. No. L355, 5.12.92, p. 1, as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 2466/96 (O.J. No. L335, 24.12.96, p. 1)

[^f00015]: O.J. No. L218, 6.8.91, p. 1, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2387/95 (O.J. No. L244, 12.10.95, p. 50)

[^f00016]: O.J. No. L356, 24.12.91, p. 17, repealed by Council Regulation (EC) No. 2800/95 (O.J. No. L291, 6.12.95, p. 1)

[^f00017]: 1954 c. 33 (N.I.)

[^f00018]: O.J. No. L128, 19.5.75, p. 1, as last amended by the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and Kingdom of Sweden and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded

[^f00019]: O.J. No. L82, 26.3.84, p. 67, as amended by Commission Decision 91/25/EEC (O.J. No. L16, 22.1.91, p. 25)

[^f00020]: S.I. 1985/170 (N.I. 1) as amended by S.I. 1989/492 (N.I.3)

[^f00021]: S.R. 1995 No. 380

[^f00022]: S.I. 1987/458 (N.I. 3) as amended by S.R. 1994 No. 419

[^f00023]: S.R. 1995 No. 134 as amended by S.R. 1996 No. 608

[^f00024]: S.I. 1995/1625 (N.I. 9)

[^f00025]: 1964 c. 33 (N.I.)

[^f00026]: S.I. 1977/52 (N.I. 1)

[^f00027]: S.I. 1985/170 (N.I. 1)

[^f00028]: O.J. No. L391, 31.12.92, p. 36, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2015/95 (O.J. No. L197, 22.8.95, p. 2)

[^f00029]: S.I. 1993/1317, as amended by S.I. 1994/1134

[^f00030]: S.R. 1995/381

[^f00031]: S.R. 1995 No. 134 as amended by S.R. 1996 No. 608

[^f00032]: 1965 c. 22 (N.I.) as amended by S.R. & O. (N.I.) 1972 No. 351

[^f00033]: S.R. 1987 No. 414 as amended by S.R. 1997 No. 469

[^f00034]: S.R. 1995 No. 371 as amended by S.R. 1996 No. 456 and S.R. 1997 No. 471