The Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 19543 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

In these Regulations –

• “Commission Regulation 795/2004” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 795/2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of the single payment scheme provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers4;

• “Commission Regulation 796/2004” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 796/2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system provided for in the Council Regulation5;

• “Commission Regulation 1973/2004” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1973/2004 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003 as regards the support schemes provided for in Titles IV and IVa of that Regulation and the use of land set aside for the production of raw materials6;

• “Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers7;

• “the Department” means the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

• “direct payment” has the meaning given to it in Article 2(d) of the Council Regulation;

• “farmer” has the meaning given to it in Article 2(a) of the Council Regulation;

• “holding” has the meaning given to it in Article 2(b) of the Council Regulation;

• “IACS Regulations” means the Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes (Integrated Administration and Control System) Regulations 20058;

• “reference period” has the meaning given to it in Article 38 of the Council Regulation;

• “relevant competent authority” has the meaning given to it in regulation 5 of the IACS Regulations;

• “single application” has the meaning given to it in Article 2(11) of Commission Regulation 796/2004;

• “single payment scheme” means the support scheme established under Title III of the Council Regulation.

Other expressions used in these Regulations shall be construed in accordance with the Council Regulation, Commission Regulation 795/2004, Commission Regulation 796/2004 and Commission Regulation 1973/2004.

Any reference in these Regulations to a Community instrument is a reference to that instrument as amended on the date these Regulations are made.

For the purposes of the first paragraph of Article 59(3) of the Council Regulation, the corresponding part of the regional ceiling established under Article 58 of the Council Regulation shall be computed by taking the average amounts of all payments which, but for the application of penalties, would have been paid by the Department to farmers during the reference period under each of the schemes listed at column 1 of the Table at Schedule 1, multiplying each such amount by the percentage opposite the scheme at column 2 and totalling the products of these calculations.

For the purposes of this regulation –

• “payment” means a payment for the relevant scheme as it would have been assessed at the appropriate rate for that scheme applicable in the year 2002, and

• “appropriate rate” means the rate of payment for that scheme calculated in euro.

For the purposes of calculating the total amount of direct payments to be paid to a farmer for any year, the Department shall deduct a sum equal to the specified proportion of the relevant amount and shall apply the sum so deducted by way of funds for one or more of the relevant purposes9.

In this regulation –

• “the relevant amount” means the amount which would have been granted to the farmer in respect of the year concerned but for the application of Article 10(1) of the Council Regulation;

• “the relevant purposes” means the purposes of any payment made pursuant to any measure which implements any provision of Articles 10 to 12 (early retirement), 13 to 21 (less-favoured areas and areas with environmental restrictions), 21a to 21d (meeting standards), 22 to 24 (agri-environment and animal welfare), 24a to 24d (food quality) and 31 (afforestation) of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund10;

• “the specified proportion” means –

  1. a

     in respect of 2005, 0%, and

  2. b

     from 2006, 4.5%.

Regulations 13 and 14 shall apply where an applicant uses areas covered by the aid provided for in Article 88 of the Council Regulation for the growing of agricultural raw materials under Article 24 of Commission Regulation 1973/2004 and references to raw materials shall be construed accordingly.

Subject to paragraph (3), the Department shall be the competent authority for the purposes of Chapter 8 of Commission Regulation 1973/2004 (Aid for energy crops).

In the case of an applicant the competent authority shall be the relevant competent authority responsible for determining the particular single application in question.

In this regulation “applicant” has the meaning given to it in Article 23 of Commission Regulation 1973/2004.

For the purposes of Article 43(2) of Commission Regulation 1973/2004, the minimum cultivated area for any raw material referred to in Article 24 of that Regulation shall be 0.1 hectares.

Where the Department excludes any agricultural raw material from aid for energy crops in accordance with Article 43(1) of Commission Regulation 1973/2004, the Department shall notify the farmers concerned stating, with reasons, the details and duration of the exclusion.

Raw materials to which Article 25(2)(b) of Commission Regulation 1973/2004 applies shall be weighed by an operator of public weighing equipment holding a certificate issued under Article 16 of the Weights and Measures (Northern Ireland) Order 198111.

For the purposes of Article 25(4) of Commission Regulation 1973/2004, cereals, oilseeds and oil produced by processing oilseeds, to which that paragraph applies, shall be denatured by dying them with a brightly coloured dye.

For the purposes of Article 34(1) of Commission Regulation 1973/2004, the last day on which a contract to which that paragraph applies may be deposited with the Department shall be the last day for submission of the relevant single application.

For the purposes of Article 34(3) of Commission Regulation 1973/2004, the last day on which a first processor to whom that paragraph applies may provide the Department with the information specified in that paragraph shall be the 9th February of the year following the year in which the relevant single application is made.

The Common Agricultural Policy Support Schemes (Modulation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 200012 shall continue to apply to direct payments in respect of scheme years which began before 2005.

The Regulations specified in Schedule 2, are revoked to the extent there specified.

The Regulations revoked by paragraph (2) shall continue to apply in respect of applications for direct payments in respect of the calendar years preceding 2005.