Beef Special Premium Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations, which come into operation on 16th October 2001, replace the provisions of the Beef Special Premium (Protection of Payments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (S.R. 1996 No. 611).

The Regulations lay down implementing measures for the beef special premium scheme provided for in Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1254/1999 on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal (O.J. No. L160, 26.6.1999, p. 21) (“the Council Regulation”). They provide for the administration of the scheme in relation to applicants and their holdings where those holdings are situated wholly in Northern Ireland, and also holdings situated partly in Northern Ireland and partly elsewhere in the United Kingdom, where the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (“the Department”) is responsible for processing the farmer’s claim for beef special premium (regulations 5 to 9). They also lay down enforcement provisions (regulations 10 to 16).

The rules relating to administration provide for the submission of applications for beef special premium (regulations 5 and 6) and the retention of records by applicants (regulation 9), impose sanctions for overgrazing and the use of unsuitable supplementary feeding methods (which are included as a condition of the scheme by virtue of Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1259/1999 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy (O.J. No. L160, 26.6.1999, p. 113)) (regulations 7 and 8), and provide for withholding or recovery of beef special premium where there is a breach of the rules of the scheme (regulations 12 and 13).

The enforcement provisions confer powers of entry, inspection and collection of evidence on authorised persons (regulations 10 and 11). These include the powers required under Article 6 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 3887/92 laying down detailed rules for applying the integrated administration and control system for certain Community aid schemes (O.J. No. L391, 31.12.92, p. 36, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 882/2001 (O.J. No. L123, 4.5.2001, p. 20)). Regulations 14 to 16 deal with offences and penalties.

Under Article 4(3)(b) of the Council Regulation an animal must, in order to qualify for beef special premium, be covered by an animal passport referred to in Aricle 6 of Regulation (EC) 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products (O.J. No. L204, 11.8.2000, p. 1) or, if not available, a national administrative document. Regulation 4 of these Regulations provides that the national administrative document shall take the form of a comprehensive list held by the Department in accordance with the provisions of Article 4(3)(d) of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2342/1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of the Council Regulation (O.J. No. L281, 4.11.1999, p. 30).