Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

Interpretation

2.—(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(1) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the 1994 Regulations” means the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994(2);

“the 1996 Regulations” means the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(3);

“the 1999 Regulations” means the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999(4);

“agriculture” includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming and livestock breeding and keeping, the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the use of land for other agricultural purposes;

“authorised person” means any person who is authorised by the Department, either generally or specially, to act in relation to matters arising under these Regulations, whether or not he is an officer of the Department;

“beneficiary” means a person who has entered into an undertaking;

“claimant” means any person who has made a claim for less favoured area compensatory allowance;

“claimed forage area” means land which has been entered at column K of the field data sheet in a single application for the year 2005;

“the Commission” means the Commission of the European Communities;

“Commission Regulation 796/2004” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 796/2004(5) laying down detailed rules for the implementation of cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system 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 farmers;

“Commission Regulation 817/2004” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 817/2004(6) laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation 1257/1999;

“Commission Regulation 1973/2004” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1973/2004(7) 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 materials;

“common land” means land the grazing of animals on which is shared;

“compensatory allowance” means either—

(a)

any payment made under these Regulations, the Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001(8), the Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002(9), the Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003(10), the Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004(11), the Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005(12); or

(b)

in the case of a compensatory allowance payable in the year 2000 or earlier, any payment made under the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations;

“Council Regulation 1254/1999” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1254/1999(13) on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal;

“Council Regulation 1257/1999” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999(14) on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations;

“Council Regulation 1782/2003” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003(15) establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers and amending certain Regulations;

“cross-border holding” means a holding which is situate partly in Northern Ireland and partly in one or more of England, Scotland or Wales;

“deer” means deer of the Red, Fallow or Sika species managed on a holding enclosed by a deer-proof barrier and kept by way of business for the primary purpose of the production of meat;

“deer-proof barrier” means a barrier which will, to the satisfaction of the Department, and having regard to the character and nature of the land, prevent the entry of deer on to or, as the case may be, the escape of deer from any land;

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

“designated map” means the map marked “map of less-favoured farming areas in Northern Ireland”, dated 8th May 1991, signed by the Secretary of State and deposited at the Offices of the Department at Dundonald House, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast BT4 3SB;

“disadvantaged land” (except in the expression “severely disadvantaged land”) means land shown coloured blue on the designated map;

“electronic communication” has the same meaning as in the Electronic Communications Act (Northern Ireland) 2001(16);

“eligible forage area” means such part of the qualifying forage area that has been entered in a single application at column G under either of the land use codes in column 1 of Schedule 1 and as lies within a less favoured area;

“eligible land” means land within the less favoured area;

“ewe” has the same meaning as in Article 112(a) of Council Regulation 1782/2003;

“the first compensatory allowance”, in relation to a claimant, means the first payment of compensatory allowance to him (whether payable under these Regulations, the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations, the Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001, the Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002, the Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003, the Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 or the Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005);

“forage area” has the same meaning as in Article 131(2)(b) of Council Regulation 1782/2003;

“goat” means any goat (of any species) which is kept by way of business for the primary purpose of the production of milk or fibre;

“heifer” has the same meaning as in Article 3 of Council Regulation 1254/1999;

“Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations” means the 1994 Regulations, the 1996 Regulations or the 1999 Regulations, as the case may be;

“holding” has the same meaning as in Article 2(b) of Council Regulation 1782/2003;

“individual reference quantity of milk” has the same meaning as in Article 117 of Commission Regulation 1973/2004;

“less favoured area” means all that land coloured blue or pink on the designated map;

“less favoured area compensatory allowance” means the compensatory allowance payable in accordance with these Regulations and with Chapter V of Title II of Council Regulation 1257/1999;

“livestock unit” means a unit of measurement of livestock numbers, and the following constitute a single livestock unit—

(a)

one suckler cow or a heifer aged over 24 months;

(b)

1.67 heifers aged between 8 months and 24 months;

(c)

6.67 ewes;

(d)

6.67 breeding female goats;

(e)

3.3 breeding female deer over 27 months; or

(f)

5 breeding female deer over 6 months but less than 27 months;

“minimum grazing period” means the seven month period 1 April 2005 to 31 October 2005;

“notional livestock density” means the number of livestock units per hectare of eligible forage area, calculated as a fraction of which the numerator is the number of relevant animals expressed in livestock units and the denominator is the claimant’s eligible forage area expressed in hectares;

“other competent authority” means the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Scottish Ministers, or the National Assembly for Wales;

“qualifying forage area” means the relevant forage area, or in relation to a claimant in relation to whom regulation 8 applies, such part of the relevant forage area as results from the reductions made to the relevant forage area in accordance with that regulation;

“related less favoured area” means, in relation to a claimant, all that claimed forage area, excluding less favoured area, in respect of which the Department has been advised by any other competent authority that the claimant is eligible for a related less favoured area allowance;

“related less favoured area allowance” means—

(a)

in relation to England, the Hill Farm Allowance;

(b)

in relation to Scotland, the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme; and

(c)

in relation to Wales, the Tir Mynydd Scheme;

“relevant animals” means—

(a)

the number of suckler cows, heifers and ewes present on a claimant’s holding for at least the minimum grazing period in the year 2005;

(b)

the average number of breeding female deer present on a claimant’s holding on a number of dates determined by the Department; and

(c)

the average number of breeding female goats present on a claimant’s holding on a number of dates determined by the Department;

“relevant forage area” means any claimed forage area situated in Northern Ireland;

“severely disadvantaged land” means land shown coloured pink on the designated map;

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

“suckler cow” shall have the same meaning as in Article 3 of Council Regulation 1254/1999;

“undertaking” means an undertaking under regulation 5(a); and

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

(4) A reference in these Regulations to anything done in writing or produced in written form includes a reference to an electronic communication which has been recorded and is capable of being subsequently reproduced.

(1)

1954 c. 33 (N.I.)

(2)

S.R. 1994 No. 417 amended by S.R. 1995 No. 22, S.R. 1995 No. 245, S.R. 1995 No. 404, S.R. 1996 No. 7 and revoked by S.R. 1996 No. 230

(3)

S.R. 1996 No. 230 amended by S.R. 1996 No. 498, S.R. 1997 No. 13, S.R. 1997 No. 486, S.R. 1998 No. 34, S.R. 1998 No. 439, S.R. 1999 No. 68 and which cease to apply by virtue of S.R. 1999 No. 497

(4)

S.R. 1999 No. 497

(5)

O.J. No. L141, 30.04.2004, p. 1 as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 436/2005 (O.J. No. L072, 18.03.2005, p. 5)

(6)

O.J. No. L153, 30.04.2004, p. 30 as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1360/2005 (O.J. No. L214, 19.08.2005, p. 55)

(7)

O.J. No. L345, 20.11.2004, p. 1 as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1044/2005 (O.J. No. L172, 05.07.2005, p. 76)

(8)

S.R. 2001 No. 71

(9)

S.R. 2002 No. 72

(10)

S.R. 2003 No. 162

(11)

S.R. 2004 No. 495

(12)

S.R. 2005 No. 106

(13)

O.J. No. L160, 26.06.1999, p. 21 as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003 (O.J. No. L270, 21.10.2003, p. 1)

(14)

O.J. No. L160, 26.06.1999, p. 80 as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 2223/2004 (O.J. No. L379, 24.12.2004, p. 1)

(15)

O.J. No. L270, 21.10.2003, p. 1 as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 118/2005 (O.J. No. L24, 27.01.2005, p. 15)

(16)

2001 c. 9; the definition of electronic communication contained in section 4 amended by section 406(1) of and paragraph 170 of Schedule 17 to the Communications Act 2003 (c. 21)