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Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland


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STATUTORY RULES OF NORTHERN IRELAND


2007 No. 27

AGRICULTURE

The Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007

  Made 18th January 2007 
  Coming into operation 18th January 2007 

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, being a Department designated[1] for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972[2] in relation to the common agricultural policy of the European Community and in relation to matters relating to the promotion of rural development, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by the said section 2(2), hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement
     1. These Regulations may be cited as the Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 and shall come into operation on 18th January 2007.

Interpretation
    
2. —(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954[3] shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

    (2) In these Regulations—

    (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.

Power to make payments
     3. Subject to regulation 5, the Department may make payments of less favoured area compensatory allowance in respect of the year 2007 to any claimant who is eligible under regulation 4 in respect of any eligible forage area.

Eligibility of claimants for less favoured area compensatory allowance
    
4. —(1) Subject to regulation 5 a claimant shall be eligible for less favoured area compensatory allowance if, and only if,—

    (2) Article 21 of Commission Regulation 796/2004 (late submission) shall apply to a claim made in an application submitted after 19th January 2007.

    (3) The conditions are—

    (4) The Department may determine that a notional livestock density of less than 0.2 is sufficient for the purposes of paragraph (1)(c) if it is reasonably satisfied that it is appropriate to do so in all the circumstances of the case, having regard, in particular, to the number of animals kept on the eligible forage area and any obligation of the claimant as to the number of animals that may be kept on the land comprising the eligible forage area.

    (5) In order to enable it to consider whether to exercise its discretion under paragraph (4), the claimant shall provide the Department with such information as it reasonably may require.

    (6) The following Articles of Commission Regulation 769/2004 shall apply to a claim for less favoured compensatory allowance—

Conditions
    
5. Less favoured area compensatory allowance shall not be paid to a claimant unless—

Release from undertaking
     6. A claimant shall not be taken to be in breach of the undertaking referred to in regulation 5—

Amount of payment
    
7. Subject to regulation 8, payment of less favoured area compensatory allowance in respect of the descriptions of eligible forage area specified in column 1 of Schedule 2 shall be made at the rates specified in column 2 of Schedule 2.

Exclusion of forage area
    
8. —(1) Subject to paragraph (2), if, on 31st March 2006, a claimant had available to him an individual reference quantity of milk, his relevant forage area shall be reduced by 1 hectare per 10,000 litres of that quantity for the purposes of determining his qualifying forage area.

    (2) Where any holding in respect of which a claim has been made is a cross-border holding, the individual reference quantity of milk applicable to that part of the claimant's holding situate in Northern Ireland shall be calculated as follows:

IRQ =TIRQ × X ÷ Y
where:

    (3) Where paragraph (1) or (2) applies, the reduction in the relevant forage area shall first be applied to land which is not eligible land, followed by disadvantaged land, and lastly, severely disadvantaged land.

Powers of authorised persons
    
9. —(1) An authorised person may at all reasonable times, on producing, if so required, some duly authenticated document showing his authority, enter on any land, other than land used solely for the purpose of a dwelling-house—

for any of the purposes mentioned in paragraph (2).

    (2) The purposes referred to in paragraph (1) are—

    (3) An authorised person who has entered any land under paragraph (1) may—

    (4) A claimant or beneficiary and any employee, servant or agent of such claimant or beneficiary shall give an authorised person all reasonable assistance in relation to the exercise of his powers under paragraphs (1) and (3).

    (5) An authorised person entering any land under paragraph (1) may be accompanied by—

and paragraphs (3) and (4) shall apply in relation to any person referred to in sub-paragraph (b), when acting under the instructions of an authorised person, as if he were an authorised person.

Breaches of undertakings
    
10. Where—

Department's powers of recovery etc.
    
11. —(1) The powers conferred by regulation 10 are—

    (2) Where the Department takes any step specified in paragraph (1), it may also suspend or terminate the undertaking, and thereupon any entitlement of the beneficiary to payment in respect of the unexpired period of the undertaking shall likewise be suspended or terminated, as the case may be.

    (3) The powers conferred on the Department by paragraph (2) shall be exercisable by a notice served on the beneficiary by post at his last known address.

Recovery of interest
    
12. —(1) Where the Department exercises the power conferred by regulation 11(1)(b), it may also recover on demand interest on the sum to be recovered, and the rate of interest shall be one percentage point above LIBOR on a day to day basis.

    (2) For the purposes of this regulation, "LIBOR" means the sterling three month London interbank offered rate in force during the period between the date on which the Department makes the payment to be recovered and the date on which it recovers the payment.

    (3) In any proceedings relating to this regulation, a certificate of the Department stating the LIBOR applicable during a period specified in the certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the rate applicable in the specified period if the certificate also states that the Bank of England notified the Department of that rate.

Sums payable to the Department to be recoverable as a debt
    
13. In any case where an amount falls to be paid to the Department by virtue of (or by virtue of action taken under) these Regulations, the amount so falling to be paid shall be recoverable as a debt.

Decisions amenable to review
    
14. A decision by the Department to refuse, reduce or recover (in whole or in part) payment of less favoured area compensatory allowance may be reviewed, by a claimant, in accordance with the following provision of these Regulations.

First review by the Department
    
15. —(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a person to whom a decision referred to in regulation 14 is directed, may apply, no later than 60 days following the date of the decision to be reviewed, to the Department for a review of that decision.

    (2) Where a decision referred to regulation 14 was made before the date of the coming into operation of these Regulations, the person to whom the decision was directed, may apply, no later than 60 days following the date of the coming into operation of these Regulations, to the Department for a review of that decision.

    (3) An application for a review under this regulation must be in writing and specify—

    (4) An application under this regulation is to be treated as made if it is received by the Department at its offices at Orchard House, 40 Foyle Street, Londonderry BT48 6AT marked "for the attention of the DARD Grants and Subsidies Appeals Branch".

    
16. —(1) Where an application is made under regulation 15, the Department shall review the decision which is the subject of the application.

    (2) In reviewing a decision in accordance with this regulation the Department may consider any document or other evidence produced by the applicant (whether or not that document or evidence was available at the time of the decision).

Decision following first review
    
17. —(1) Following review of a decision in accordance with regulation 16, the Department may—

    (2) The Department shall give its decision under paragraph (1) as soon as practicable in writing, setting out the facts upon which its decision is based and the reasons for its decision.

Further review by the Department
    
18. —(1) An applicant who is dissatisfied with a decision under regulation 17 may, no later than 30 days following the date of that decision, apply in writing to the Department for a review of that decision.

    (2) An application for a review of a decision under regulation 17 must be in writing and specify—

    (3) An application under this regulation is to be treated as made if it is received by the Department at its offices at Orchard House, 40 Foyle Street, Londonderry BT48 6AT marked "for the attention of the DARD Grants and Subsidies Appeals Branch".

    
19. —(1) Where an application is made under regulation 18, the Department shall review the decision which is specified in it.

    (2) In reviewing a decision in accordance with this regulation the Department may—

Decision following further review
    
20. —(1) Following a review of a decision in accordance with regulation 19, the Department may—

    (2) The Department shall give its decision under paragraph (1) as soon as practicable in writing, setting out the facts upon which its decision is based and the reasons for its decision.

Further review by persons appointed
    
21. —(1) An applicant who is dissatisfied with a decision under regulation 20 may, no later than 30 days following the date of that decision, apply in writing to the Department to have that decision reviewed by persons appointed by it.

    (2) An application for a review of a decision under regulation 20 must be in writing and specify—

    (3) An application under this regulation is to be treated as made if it is received by the Department at its offices at Dundonald House, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast BT4 3SB marked "for the attention of the DARD Appeals Secretariat" and is accompanied by a fee of £100.

    (4) The fee referred to in paragraph (3) is payable to the Department and recoverable by it, in the event of default, as a debt.

Powers of persons appointed
    
22. —(1) Where an application is made under regulation 21, the Department shall appoint such persons as it considers appropriate to review the decision and provide those persons with a copy of—

    (2) The persons appointed under this regulation shall review the decision and may—

    (3) Following their review of the matter the persons appointed shall report to the Department—

    (4) Having considered the matters reported to it under paragraph (3) the Department may—

    (5) In coming to its decision in accordance with paragraph (4) the Department shall have regard to the findings and recommendations reported to it by the persons appointed under this regulation but is not bound to follow all or any part of such findings or recommendations.

    (6) The Department shall give its decision under this regulation as soon as practicable in writing and where it does not adopt the findings and recommendations reported to it shall set out—

    (7) Where the Department decides in accordance with paragraph (4)(b) or (c), the fee referred to in regulation 21(3) shall be refunded to the applicant.

    (8) The Department may make such payment, by way of fee or reimbursement of expenses, to any of such persons appointed under paragraph (1), as appears to it to be appropriate.

Notification of decisions
    
23. —(1) A decision under regulation 17, 20 or 22 shall be notified to the applicant as soon as practicable after it is made by recorded delivery post to the address shown on the application for review.

    (2) In the case of a decision under regulation 22, the finding and recommendations of the persons appointed shall be notified along with the decision.

Offences and penalties
    
24. —(1) A person is guilty of an offence if—

    (2) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (1)(a) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

    (3) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (1)(b) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

    (4) No prosecution for an offence under paragraph (1) shall be commenced after the expiration of three years from the commission of the offence or one year from the date that, in the prosecutor's opinion, evidence sufficient to justify the proceedings came to his knowledge, whichever is the earlier.

    (5) Where paragraph (4) applies—



Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on


18th January 2007.

L.S.


G. O'Doherty
A senior officer of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
SCHEDULE 1Regulation 3


ELIGIBLE LAND USE CODES


Column 1 Column 2
FR1 Grass (grass for grazing hay and silage, rough grazing, grazed heather, sainfoin, clover, lucerne and forage vetches)
OT3 Grazed orchards or grazed woodlands (orchards and woodlands which are grazed by livestock and which have been used to support subsidy payments in the past)



SCHEDULE 2
Regulation 7


PAYMENT RATES PER HECTARE


Column 1 Column 2
     1. Severely disadvantaged land (not being common land)

£22.80
     2. Disadvantaged land (not being common land)

£11.40
     3. Common land

£11.40



EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)


These Regulations implement Commission Regulation 817/2004 (O.J. No. L153, 30.04.2004, p. 30: Corrigendum O.J. No. L231, 30.06.2004, p. 24) laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation 1257/1999 (O.J. No. L160, 26.06.1999, p. 80) and Commission Regulation 1974/2006 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation 1698/2005 on support for rural development.

In particular the Regulations implement Articles 13, 14 and 15 of Council Regulation 1257/1999 and Articles 36 and 51(1) of Council Regulation 1698/2005 (which deal with support for less favoured areas) by defining the conditions of eligibility for less favoured area compensatory allowance (regulations 3 to 6) and the rates at which it is to be paid (regulation 7 and Schedule 2).

Regulation 8 provides for the exclusion of forage area in respect of claimants who held milk quota at 31st March 2006.

Regulation 9 confers powers of entry and inspection on persons authorised by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development ("the Department").

Regulations 10 and 11 grant the Department the powers to withhold or recover payments and take certain other action in the event of a breach of an undertaking given by a claimant under these Regulations and in certain other events.

Regulation 12 provides for the recovery of interest on sums recovered.

Regulation 13 provides that amounts to be paid to the Department shall be recoverable as a debt.

Regulations 14 to 23 provide procedures for the review of any decision of the Department to refuse, reduce or recover payment of less favoured compensatory allowance.

Regulation 24 creates offences of making false or misleading statements and of obstructing persons authorised by the Department.


Notes:

[1] S.I. 2000/2812 to which there are amendments not relevant to the subject matter of these Regulations and S.I. 2000/3238back

[2] 1972 c. 68back

[3] 1954 c. 33 (N.I.)back

[4] 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. 230back

[5] 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. 497back

[6] S.R. 1999 No. 497back

[7] 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)back

[8] 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)back

[9] 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)back

[10] O.J No. L368, 23.12.2006, p. 1back

[11] O.J. No. L277, 21.10.2005, p. 1back

[12] S.R. 2001 No.71back

[13] S.R. 2002 No. 72back

[14] S.R. 2003 No. 162back

[15] S.R. No. 2004 No. 495back

[16] S.R. No. 2005 No. 106back

[17] S.R. No. 2006 No. 52back

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

[19] 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)back

[20] 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)back

[21] 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)back

[22] S.R. 2005 No. 310back



ISBN 978 0 337 96814 3


 © Crown copyright 2007

Prepared 26 January 2007


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