The Organic Farming Scheme (Wales) Regulations 2001

Conditions of eligibility

5.—(1) The conditions of eligibility referred to in regulation 3(2) are that—

(a) the application shall be made in respect of not less than one hectare of land;

(b) at the date of his application, the applicant—

(i) shall be the owner or tenant of the land which is the subject of the application and in lawful occupation of that land; and

(ii) shall not be disqualified from eligibility to participate in an agri-environment scheme either by application of a penalty consequent upon Article 48(2) of the Commission Regulation (which requires member States to determine a system of penalties for breaches of undertakings) or by application of Article 48(3) of the Commission Regulation (which requires a person who, intentionally or by reason of gross negligence, makes a false declaration to be excluded from all aid under Council Regulation 1257/1999);

(c) the use of any land in accordance with the proposals contained in the application relating to it shall not be such as to frustrate the purposes of any assistance previously given or to be given out of money provided by Parliament or by the European Community; and

(d) the applicant shall give the undertakings mentioned in paragraph (2) in support of the application.

(2) The undertakings referred to in paragraph (1)(d) are—

(a) before claiming payment of aid in respect of any organic parcel, to furnish to the National Assembly a certificate of registration in respect of that organic parcel;

(b) for the duration of the specified period—

(i) to retain a certificate of registration in respect of each organic parcel on which aid has been claimed;

(ii) to farm the land that is the subject of the application, and such part of the organic unit comprising that land as at any given time is being farmed by organic farming methods, in accordance with the proposals set out in the application and with UKROFS standards and the standards set out in Schedule 2;

(iii) to ensure that any organic livestock or livestock undergoing conversion which are kept on the organic unit are kept in accordance with UKROFS standards; and

(iv) where at the date of the application the applicant has introduced organic farming on a part of the holding other than the part which is the subject of the application, to ensure that that other part conforms to UKROFS standards and continue with organic farming on that other part of the holding, in accordance with UKROFS standards and the standards set out in Schedule 2; and

(v) to farm any part of the holding that is not the subject of paragraph (ii) above in accordance with the standards set out in Schedule 2; and

(c) to complete the conversion of each organic parcel no later than the fifth anniversary of the date on which the conversion period in respect of the organic parcel in question begins.