2002 No. 368
AGRICULTURE
The Sheep Annual Premium (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002
Made 29th November 2002
Coming into operation 3rd December 2002

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development being a Department designated for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in relation to the common agricultural policy of the European Community, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by the said section 2(2) and of every other power enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:
S.I. 2000/2812
1972 c. 68

1 Citation and commencement
These Regulations may be cited as the Sheep Annual Premium (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 and shall come into operation on 3rd December 2002.

2 Interpretation
1 In these Regulations, “the principal Regulations” means the Sheep Annual Premium Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992
S.R. 1992 No. 476 as previously amended by S.R. 1994 No. 404, S.R. 1995 No. 403, S.R. 1996 No. 497, S.R. 1997 No. 485, S.R. 1998 No. 440, S.R. 1999 No. 457, S.R. 2000 No. 301 and S.R. 2001 No. 411
2 The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
1954 c. 33 (N.I.)

3 Amendments
1 The principal Regulations shall be amended in accordance with the paragraphs (2) to (4).
2 In Regulation 2(2) (interpretation) after the definition of “the Department” there shall be inserted the following definition–

““ electronic communication” has the same meaning as in the Electronic Communications Act (Northern Ireland) 2001;”

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2001 c. 9 (N.I.)
3 After regulation 2(3) (interpretation) there shall be inserted the following paragraph–

“4 In these Regulations any reference to anything done in writing or produced in written form includes a reference to an electronic communication which has been recorded and is subsequently capable of being reproduced.”

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4 For regulation 3(2) (application for premium) there shall be substituted the following paragraph–

“2 A producer who applies for a premium in respect of a given marketing year shall submit his application to the competent authority–
(a) on or after 3rd December in the preceding calendar year; and
(b) not later than 3rd January in that marketing year or if 3rd January is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday the next following working day.”

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Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on 29th November 2002
R. Jordan A senior officer of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)
These Regulations further amend the Sheep Annual Premium Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 (“the 1992 Regulations”) to provide for the period in which to apply for sheep annual premium in respect of any marketing year. A producer shall submit his application on or after 3rd December in the preceding calendar year and not later than 3rd January in the marketing year. Previously the producer was required to submit his application in the period from 4th December 2001 to 4th January 2002.
The Regulations also enable applications to be submitted in electronic form.
The 1992 Regulations continue to supplement the rules on the payment of sheep annual premium in Council Regulation (EC) No. 2529/2001 on the common organisation of the market in sheepmeat and goatmeat (O.J. No. L341, 12.12.2001, p. 13), Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2550/2001 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No. 2529/2001 on the common organisation of the market in sheepmeat and goatmeat as regards premium schemes (O.J. No. L341, 22.12.2001, p. 105) and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2419/2001 laying down detailed rules for applying the integrated administration and control system for certain community aid schemes established by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3508/92 (O.J. No. 327, 12.12.2001, p. 11).