UK growers have received early payment under the exceptional aid scheme set up after the E. coli outbreak in Germany.
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) announced this week that it has already paid those producers whose business was affected by the downturn in trade and disruption resulting from the outbreak - two months ahead of deadline.
The agency said it has processed payments totalling £566,114 to 22 separate claimants for withdrawn or non-harvested lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.
The deadline for making the payments is 15 October but the RPA made the payments to UK applicants by mid-August. In addition, due to an extra €17 million of EU funding, eligible applicants have had their claims met in full.
Originally they were warned their payments could be scaled down if the total value of claims by EU member states exceeded the €210m set aside for the scheme. In the event, the commission paid out in full on the €227m applied for.
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