For Article 7 substitute—

“Article 7Designation of paying agencies and coordinated action by relevant authorities

1.

Paying agencies shall be departments or bodies designated by the relevant authority, which have an administrative organisation and a system of internal control that provide sufficient guarantees that payments are legal and regular, and properly accounted for.

2.

The number of paying agencies shall be restricted to no more than one per constituent nation.

3.

Paying agencies shall be responsible for the management and control of expenditure on direct payments. With the exception of payment, the carrying out of those tasks may be delegated.

4.

The relevant authorities shall have joint responsibility for the following tasks:

(a)

to take or coordinate, as the case may be, actions with a view to resolving deficiencies of a common nature;

(b)

to promote and, where possible, ensure harmonised application of sectoral agricultural legislation.”.