Leaders of the four UK farming unions are calling on UK authorities not to penalise farmers who make honest mistakes because of a lack of clarity over the new payment scheme rules.
Stephen James, of NFU Cymru, Ian Marshall, of Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), Meurig Raymond, of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), and Allan Bowie, of NFU Scotland (NFUS), met in Northern Ireland to discuss CAP implementation.
The presidents of UFU, NFU and NFUS are also calling on their agriculture departments to follow the lead of the Welsh Government, which plans on making part-payments to all claimants if necessary.
A statement released from the quartet following the meeting, read: “We find ourselves in a unique set of circumstances this year, with the introduction of the new and very complex requirements under the reformed CAP. There are many elements that have changed completely from the previous CAP, and there are still significant requirements, many relating to greening, that need to be clarified or confirmed.
'The slow progress and lack of clarity is causing confusion on the ground and many farmers are being forced to make business decisions or fill in their direct payment application forms with limited information. In addition to this, the whole greening regime is up for review in 2017, which could mean further changes to contend with.
“It is clear from our discussions that there are implementation problems right across the four regions. In recognition of where we are with the CAP, we are urging the UK administrations not to penalise those applicants who have made every attempt to comply with the requirements but find themselves caught out by the detail.
“These are exceptional circumstances we are facing as a result of the changes under the new CAP, and we are expecting that our respective UK government administrations ensure that the facilities are in place in each region, like the Welsh Government has already signalled it will do for Welsh farmers, to issue part-payments to all claimants if this is necessary, although early payment in full is our major objective.
'We understand that the government departments are under pressure and are grappling with the complexities of the new CAP as well, however, it will be to detriment of the agri-food industry across the UK if farmers face long delays in receiving direct payments as a result of government failure to process applications in a timely manner.”
