UK Offence Report

The Arable Area Payments Regulations 1995

UK Statutory Instrument 1995 No. 1738 — creates 3 criminal offences.

3offences created
0recorded in force
3revoked
Made
5 July 1995
In force from
31 July 1995
Extent
Not stated
Subject
Agriculture, plant health, food production and rural affairs
Made under
European Communities Act 1972

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations apply throughout Great Britain. As specified below, they 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 of the Commission Regulations made under it, namely Commission Regulations (EEC) Nos. 2294/92, 2295/92, 2780/92, 334/93 and 2595/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 762/94. Regulation 2(1) defines these various Regulations, and the definitions include amendments to them. Under the support system established under the Council Regulation, 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 the Great Britain are defined in regulation 3(1), while regulation 3(2) sets out the method by which the yield calculated for each region should be adjusted. Regulation 4 provides for yield calculation in relation to oilseed rape. 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 6 and Schedule 1, and those in which producers are exempted from the second requirement are set out in regulation 7. 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 8 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 Council Regulation 1765/92 permits a producer to transfer his set-aside requirement to another producer, in accordance with a plan presented in advance to the Commission. Regulation 9 requires producers transferring their set-aside requirement in reliance on Article 7(7) to provide evidence to the Minister 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 only qualifies for compensatory payment when seed is sown in accordance with locally recognised standards (Article 2(1)(d) of Commission Regulation (2294/92) and conforms to a quality policy established by the Member State in accordance with Article 3(1) of that Regulation. Regulation 10 sets out the qualifying requirements for cleaning, dressing and harvesting farm-saved rapeseed and the qualifying planting distances for particular types of rapeseed. The Regulations also— a prescribe the minimum size of an agricultural plot for which certain compensatory payments may be claimed (regulation 5); b require farmers, collectors and processors to keep, retain and produce records (regulations 11 and 12); c specify the reductions in compensatory payments applicable to breaches of requirements relating to land set aside (regulation 13); d prescribe the rate of interest payable where a compensatory payment is recovered by the appropriate authority in cases where recovery does not result from an error by that authority (regulation 14); 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 15 and 16); and f create offences and penalties (regulation 17). The Regulations revoke and replace the Arable Area Payments Regulations 1994, and the Arable Area Payments (Amendment) Regulations 1994. A compliance cost assessment has been prepared and has been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

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