The Organic Farming (Wales) Regulations 1999

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

“the 1994 Regulations” means the Organic Farming (Aid) Regulations 1994(1);

“aid” means the payments under the Community aid scheme referred to in Article 1 of Council Regulation 2078/92 in so far as it relates to farmers who undertake to introduce organic farming methods;

“agriculture” includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming, livestock breeding and keeping and the use of land for grazing, meadow land, market gardens or nursery grounds, but does not include the use of land—

(i)

as osier land; or

(ii)

for woodlands, except where that use is ancillary to any other use of land for the purposes of agriculture;

“agri-environment scheme” means an arrangement which is—

(a)

regulated by statutory instrument providing for the payment of aid to persons who give an undertaking or enter into an agreement in relation to the use or management of land; and

(b)

approved by the Commission of the European Communities under Article 7(3) of Council Regulation 2078/92 as part of a zonal programme drawn up pursuant to Article 3 of that Regulation;

“application” means an application for aid made in accordance with regulation 9 in respect of one or more organic parcels, but does not include a request under regulation 13(1), and “applicant” and “apply” shall be construed accordingly;

“approved” means approved by an inspection authority;

“the Assembly” means the National Assembly for Wales;

“authorised person” means a person (whether or not an officer of the Assembly) who is authorised by the Assembly, either generally or specifically, to act in relation to matters arising under these Regulations;

“beneficiary” means—

(a)

a person whose application, or whose request under regulation 13(1) in respect of land comprising one or more organic parcels, has been accepted by the Assembly; or

(b)

a person who occupies the whole or any part of an organic unit following a change of occupation of the holding, who has given an undertaking to comply with all the obligations assumed by its previous occupier under these Regulations, in so far as they relate to land comprised in that organic unit, or the part of that organic unit occupied by him, and whose undertaking in such terms has been accepted by the Assembly;

“certificate of registration” means a certificate issued by an inspection authority in respect of an organic parcel, specifying the conversion period which applies in relation to that organic parcel, or the date on which that conversion period begins; and for this purpose a certificate so issued is issued “in respect of” an organic parcel if it relates to that organic parcel, whether or not it also relates to any other organic parcel;

“Commission Regulation” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 746/96 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2078/92(2), as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 435/97(3);

“conversion”, in relation to an organic parcel, means the conversion of that organic parcel to being fully organic;

“conversion period”, in relation to an organic parcel, means the period determined by the inspection authority as the period in which the conversion of that organic parcel is expected to be completed, being a period starting—

(a)

in relation to the first organic parcel, not later than the date of acceptance; and

(b)

in relation to any other organic parcel, not later than the fifth anniversary of the date of acceptance;

“Council Regulation 2092/91” means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs(4) as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1900/98(5);

“Council Regulation 2078/92” means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2078/92 on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of the protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside(6), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2772/95(7) as in turn rectified by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1962/96(8);

“date of acceptance” means the date on which the Assembly accepts an application in accordance with regulation 3;

“date of receipt”, in relation to an organic parcel, means the date on which the Assembly received an application in accordance with regulation 9 in respect of that organic parcel;

“financial year” means the twelve months ending with 31st March;

“first organic parcel” means, of all the organic parcels comprised in an application, the organic parcel the conversion period for which begins first;

“first year” means—

(a)

in relation to an organic parcel—

(i)

in a case where the conversion period in respect of the organic parcel has commenced no later than the date of acceptance, the year beginning with the date of acceptance; and

(ii)

in any other case, the year beginning with the anniversary of the date of acceptance which is the first such anniversary to occur during the conversion period relating to the organic parcel in question; and

(b)

in relation to an organic unit, the first year in relation to the first organic parcel to which an application relates, being the first such application relating to land comprised in that organic unit;

and any reference to any successive year is a reference to the relevant successive year following in sequence from the first year;

“fully organic” in relation to an organic parcel or organic unit means that—

(a)

the inspection authority is satisfied that the conversion of that organic parcel or organic unit is completed; and

(b)

notification having been given under Article 8 of the Council Regulation 2092/91(9), details of such organic parcel or organic unit have appeared in the list referred to in that Article;

“holding” means all the production units managed by a producer situated within the same member State’s territory;

“inspection authority”, in relation to an organic unit or organic parcel, means—

(a)

the authority designated by the Organic Products Regulations 1992(10) for the purposes of Article 9 of Council Regulation 2092/91, or

(b)

a private inspection body approved by that authority in accordance with Article 9 of that Regulation (which concerns the inspection system to which organic farming is subject),

being the authority or private inspection body to whom the applicant has applied to carry out inspection functions in relation to that organic unit or organic parcel;

“land” means land which is used for agriculture;

“landlord”, in relation to the tenant of a holding, means any person who either solely or jointly owns, or has a superior tenancy of, that holding, and “immediate landlord” means the landlord from whose title (or, as the case may be, joint title) the tenant directly derives his title;

“last organic parcel” means, of all the organic parcels which are the subject of an application, the organic parcel the conversion period for which begins last;

“livestock” means any animal or fowl kept for the production of food, wool or skins or for the breeding of any animal for any such purpose;

“livestock undergoing conversion” means livestock which are identified in an approved plan as being in the process of being converted into organic livestock, and which fully conform to those UKROFS standards which apply in relation to the organic farming of livestock undergoing conversion;

“organic farming” means farming by organic farming methods;

“organic farming methods” has the same meaning as in Article 2(1)(a) of Council Regulation 2078/92;

“organic livestock” means livestock that are identified in an approved plan as being livestock that fully conform to those UKROFS standards which apply in relation to the organic farming of livestock;

“organic parcel” means an area of land which comprises the whole or part of an organic unit and which is identified in an approved plan by reference to such system of field numbering as the Assembly may direct;

“organic unit” means an area of land which comprises the whole or part of a holding, and which has been established as an organic unit in accordance with Annex III to Council Regulation 2092/91 (which concerns the delineation of the organic unit by any inspection authority in a report countersigned by the producer);

“owner” means the person who owns the fee simple of the holding, and “owns” shall be construed accordingly;

“plan” means a schedule in writing specifying, in relation to an organic unit—

(a)

those parcels which have been registered by the inspection authority;

(b)

those parcels which it is intended to register in the future;

(c)

the dates on which such organic parcels have been or (as the case may be) are to be registered; and

(d)

where the plan relates to land on which livestock are kept, the livestock that are undergoing conversion or are organic livestock;

“specified period”, in relation to an application, means the period beginning with the date of acceptance and ending on the expiry of the period of five years from the date on which the first payment becomes payable in respect of the last organic parcel which is the subject of that application;

“tenant” means a person whose right to occupation of a holding derives from—

(a)

an agreement which has effect by virtue of section 2 of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986(11) as an agreement for the letting of land on a tenancy from year to year;

(b)

a tenancy agreement falling within section 1 of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995(12); or

(c)

a contract for a tenancy for a fixed term of years; and

“UKROFS standards” means the production standards for organic farming of the United Kingdom Register of Organic Food Standards published in January 1999 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and known as the UKROFS Standards for Organic Food Production.

(2) Any reference in these Regulations to:

(a) a numbered regulation or Schedule shall be construed as a reference to the regulation or Schedule so numbered in these Regulations; and

(b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the regulation in which the reference occurs.

(3) Words and phrases used in the Regulations and not defined in paragraph (1) shall be construed in accordance with Schedule 1.

(1)

S.I. 1994/1721; amended by S.I. 1996/3109 and S.I. 1998/1606.

(2)

OJ No. L102, 25.4.96, p.19.

(3)

OJ No. L67, 7.3.97, p.2.

(4)

OJ No. L198, 22.7.91, p.1.

(5)

OJ No. L247, 5.9.98, p.6.

(6)

OJ No. L215, 30.7.92, p.85.

(7)

OJ No. L288, 1.12.95, p.35.

(8)

OJ No. L259, 12.10.96, p.7.

(9)

By virtue of S.I. 1992/2111, as amended by S.I. 1994/2286, the authority responsible for the receipt of notifications in relation to land in Wales under Article 8 of Council Regulation 2092/91 is the Secretary of State.

(10)

S.I. 1992/2111. The relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1994/2286.

(11)

1986 c. 5.

(12)

1995 c. 8.