The Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2006

Prospective

Interpretation U.K.

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“agriculture” includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming and livestock breeding and keeping, the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the use of land for other agricultural purposes;

“breeding cow” means a suckler cow or a heifer;

“claimant” means any person who has made a claim for hill farm allowance and “claim” shall be construed accordingly;

“claimant’s less favoured area land” means land entered in the claimant’s single payment scheme application which is within a less favoured area;

“claimed forage area” means land in respect of which a claimant has claimed hill farm allowance or a related less favoured area allowance in a single payment scheme application;

“Commission Regulation 796/2004” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 796/2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system provided for in Council Regulation 1782/2003(1);

“Commission Regulation 1973/2004” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1973/2004 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation 1782/2003 as regards the support schemes provided for in Titles IV and IVa of that Regulation and the use of land set aside for the production of raw materials(2);

“common land” means any land which is registered as common land with grazing rights under the Commons Registration Act 1965(3);

“compensatory allowance” means any payment made under these Regulations, the Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2005(4), the Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2004(5), the Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2003(6), the Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2002(7), the Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2001(8), the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1999(9), the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1996(10) or the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1994(11);

“Council Regulation 1257/1999” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations(12);

“Council Regulation 1782/2003” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers and amending certain regulations(13);

“disadvantaged land” (except in the expression “severely disadvantaged land”) means any area of land shown coloured blue on the England LFA maps;

“eligible forage area” means such part of the qualifying forage area as lies within a less favoured area;

“the England LFA maps” means the three volumes of maps numbered 1 to 3, each volume being marked “Volume of maps of less-favoured farming areas in England”, dated 20th May 1991, signed and sealed by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and deposited at the offices of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR;

“ewe” means a female sheep which is at least one year old on 1st January 2006, or has lambed by that date;

“forage area” has the same meaning as in Article 131(2)(b) of Council Regulation 1782/2003;

“heifer” means a female bovine animal aged 8 months or over which has not yet calved;

“hill farm allowance” means the compensatory allowance payable in accordance with these Regulations and with Chapter V of Title II of Council Regulation 1257/1999;

“holding” has the same meaning as in Article 2(b) of Council Regulation 1782/2003;

“individual reference quantity of milk” has the same meaning as in Article 117(2) of Commission Regulation 1973/2004;

“less favoured area” means any area of land shown coloured blue or pink on the England LFA maps;

“livestock unit” means a unit of measurement of livestock numbers, and each of the following constitutes a single livestock unit—

(a)

one suckler cow;

(b)

one heifer aged 24 months or over;

(c)

1.67 heifers under the age of 24 months; and

(d)

6.67 ewes;

“moorland” means all the land which is shown as a less favoured area on the England LFA maps and which is also shown coloured pink in the three volumes of maps entitled “Moorland Map of England 1992” each volume being marked with the number of the volume, dated 20th February 2001, signed on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and deposited at the offices of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR;

“notional livestock density” means the number of livestock units per hectare of the claimant’s eligible forage area, calculated in accordance with Schedule 1;

“other competent authority” means the Scottish Ministers, the National Assembly for Wales or, in Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

“permanent pasture” means non-rotational land used for grass production (sown or natural) on a permanent basis (five years or longer) excluding land set aside pursuant to Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1251/1999(14) and Article 54 of Council Regulation 1782/2003;

“qualifying forage area” means the relevant forage area or, in relation to a claimant to whom regulation 8 applies, such part of the relevant forage area as results from the deductions made to the relevant forage area in accordance with that regulation;

“related less favoured area” means, in relation to a claimant, all that claimed forage area in respect of which the Secretary of State has been advised by any other competent authority that the claimant is eligible for a related less favoured area allowance;

“related less favoured area allowance” means a compensatory allowance payable in relation to land situated in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales in accordance with Chapter V of Title II of Council Regulation 1257/1999;

“relevant animals” means, in relation to a claimant, the breeding cows and ewes determined as relevant animals in accordance with Schedule 5;

“relevant forage area” means any claimed forage area situated in England;

“severely disadvantaged land” means any area of land shown coloured pink on the England LFA maps;

“single payment scheme” means the support scheme established under Title III of Council Regulation 1782/2003;

“single payment scheme application” means an application to the single payment scheme submitted in 2005 in accordance with Article 34 of Council Regulation 1782/2003 and Title II of Part II of Commission Regulation 796/2004;

“suckler cow” has the same meaning as in Article 122(d) of Council Regulation 1782/2003.

(2) 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.

(3) 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.

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 2 in force at 1.3.2006, see reg. 1

(1)

O.J. No. L141, 30.4.2004, p.18, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2184/2005, O.J. No. L347, 30.12.2005, p.61.

(2)

O.J. No. L345, 20.11.2004, p.1, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2184/2005, O.J. No. L347, 30.12.2005, p.61.

(3)

1965 c. 64.

(4)

S.I. 2005/154.

(5)

S.I. 2004/145.

(6)

S.I. 2003/289.

(7)

S.I. 2002/271.

(8)

S.I. 2001/476.

(9)

S.I. 1999/3316.

(10)

S.I. 1996/1500, amended by S.I. 1997/33, 1998/206, 1999/375. S.I. 1996/1500 ceased to apply by virtue of S.I. 1999/3316.

(11)

S.I. 1994/2740, amended by S.I. 1995/100, 1995/1481, 1995/2778 and 1996/27 and revoked by S.I. 1996/1500.

(12)

O.J. No. L160, 26.6.1999, p.80, as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 2223/2004, O.J. No. L379, 24.12.2004, p.1.

(13)

O.J. No. L270, 21.10.2003, p.1, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2183/2005, O.J. No. L347, 30.12.2005, p.56.

(14)

O.J. No. L160, 26.6.1999, as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003, O.J. No. L270, 21.10.2003, p.1.