http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2002/29Marketing of Quality Agricultural Products Grant Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002Rural developmentAGRICULTUREStatute Law Database2025-02-18Expert Participation2007-10-30 These Regulations, which come into operation on 14th March 2002, supplement in respect of Northern Ireland the Community legislation listed in the Schedule to the Regulations (“the Community legislation”). The Community legislation inter alia provides for support to be paid from the Guidance Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (“Community support”) towards investment relating to the marketing of quality agricultural products. 2002 No. 29<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">AGRICULTURE</Repeal><Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Marketing of Quality Agricultural Products Grant Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002</Repeal>Made6th February 2002Coming into operation14th March 2002The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, being a Department designated for the purpose of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 as regards measures relating to the operation of the Structural Funds and matters relating to the promotion of rural development, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by the said section 2(2), and all other powers enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:— <Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Citation and commencement</Repeal>1These Regulations may be cited as the Marketing of Quality Agricultural Products Grant Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 and shall come into operation on 14th March 2002.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Interpretation</Repeal>21In these Regulations—“application” means an application for approval of expenditure under regulation 4;“approved” in relation to any expenditure means approved by the Department under regulation 5;“authorised person” means any person authorised by the Department, either generally or specifically, for the purposes of these Regulations and includes any official of the Commission who accompanies such an authorised person;“beneficiary” means a person whose application has been granted ;“Community support” means support payable pursuant to the fourth indent of Article 33 of the Council Regulation from the Guidance Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund in accordance with the Community legislation;“the Community legislation” means the Council Regulation and the instruments listed in the Schedule in so far as they relate to Community support ;“the Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 of 17th May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations;“the Department” means the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;“electronic communication” has the same meaning as in the Electronic Communications Act (Northern Ireland ) 2001;“financial support” means an amount paid or payable under these Regulations;“operation” means an investment or project in Northern Ireland;“public funds” means monies made available by:—a body exercising public functions within the United Kingdom; orthe European Communities.2A 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 consequently capable of being reproduced.3The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Grants to support the marketing of quality agricultural products</Repeal>31The Department may pay financial support to a beneficiary towards approved expenditure incurred in connection with an operation.2The amount of any such financial support shall be 50 per cent of the approved expenditure or, if any other grant is payable from public funds in relation to the same approved expenditure, such other amount as, when added to that other grant, would make up 50 per cent of the approved expenditure.3The maximum financial support payable under this regulation in respect of any operation shall be £150,000.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Approval of expenditure</Repeal>4An application for the approval of expenditure in connection with an operation shall be made in such form and contain such information as the Department reasonably may require.51Subject to paragraph (2), the Department may approve in whole or in part expenditure in connection with an operation for which an application has been made.2The Department shall not approve expenditure unless it is satisfied that the operation to which it relates is eligible for Community support.3Approval may be given subject to such conditions as the Department may determine.4Subject to paragraph (5) the Department may vary any approval granted under this regulation.5The Department shall only vary an approval granted under this regulation pursuant to a request in writing from the beneficiary to do so, or in any other case after—agiving the beneficiary notice in writing that it proposes to do so together with a statement of its reasons;bgiving the beneficiary an opportunity to make written representations within such time as the Department considers reasonable; andcconsidering any such representations.6An approval or variation under this regulation shall be in writing.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Claims</Repeal>6A claim for financial support shall be made at such time or within such period and in such form, and be accompanied by such information, as the Department reasonably may require.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Payments</Repeal>71The Department may pay financial support in respect of approved expenditure in connection with an operation by payment of a single lump sum or by instalments.2Payments may be made—aat such time as the Department reasonably may determine; andbsubject to such conditions as the Department reasonably may determine.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Information</Repeal>81A beneficiary shall give the Department such information about any approved expenditure and any operation in connection with which such expenditure is incurred as the Department reasonably may require.2Where the Department requires such information, the beneficiary shall give it to the Department within such period as the Department reasonably may determine.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Record keeping</Repeal>91A beneficiary shall, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), keep any invoice, account or other document relating to approved expenditure or any operation in connection with which such expenditure is incurred for the period of 6 years beginning with the day on which the last payment of financial support under these Regulations is made to him in connection with that expenditure or operation.2If in the normal course of business a beneficiary transfers to another person the original of any document he is required to keep under paragraph (1) within the period he is required to keep it under that paragraph it shall be sufficient compliance with that paragraph for him to keep a copy of that document for that period.3Paragraph (1) shall not apply in any case where a document to which that paragraph relates has been removed by any person lawfully authorised to remove it.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Powers of authorised persons</Repeal>101An authorised person may at all reasonable times, on producing, if so required, some duly authenticated document showing his authority, enter on any land, other than land used solely for the purpose of a dwelling-house:—ato which an application or approved expenditure relates; orbon which he has reasonable grounds to believe that documents relating to an application or approved expenditure are being kept,for any of the purposes mentioned in paragraph (2).2The purposes referred to in paragraph (1) are:—averifying the accuracy of any information provided by an applicant or beneficiary relating to an application or approved expenditure; andbdetermining whether or not a beneficiary has complied with the conditions of an approval.3An authorised person who has entered any land under paragraph (1) may:—ainspect any document or record on it which he reasonably believes relates to an application or approved expenditure;brequire the applicant or beneficiary or any employee, servant or agent of such applicant or beneficiary, to produce, or secure the production of, any document or supply any additional information in his possession or under his control relating to the application or approved expenditure in question, as the case may be;cwhere any information referred to in sub-paragraph (b) is kept by means of a computer, have access to any computer and any associated apparatus or material which is or has been used for storing that information and require information to be reproduced in a form in which it is legible and can be taken away;drequire copies of or extracts from any such document or other record referred to in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) to be produced; andeseize and retain any document or other record which he reasonably believes may be required as evidence in proceedings under these Regulations.4An applicant or beneficiary, and any employee, servant or agent of such applicant or beneficiary shall give an authorised person all reasonable assistance in relation to the exercise of his powers under paragraphs (1) and (3).5An authorised person entering any land under paragraph (1) may take with him such other person as he considers necessary and paragraphs (3) and (4) shall apply to any such person when acting under the instructions of an authorised person as if he were an authorised person.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Breaches of obligations</Repeal>111Subject to paragraph (2) where—aany information furnished to the Department by the beneficiary is false or misleading;bthe beneficiary is in breach of any of the conditions of an approval;cthe beneficiary is in breach of any requirement to which he is subject under these Regulations or under the Community legislation; ordthe whole or part of the financial support payable in respect of approved expenditure duplicates other grant paid or to be paid out of public funds,the Department may exercise the powers contained in regulation 13.2For the purposes of paragraph (1)(d), other grant duplicates any financial support if it is, or would be, for any of the same purposes as the financial support.3Where—aa beneficiary has transferred all or part of the land to which an approval relates to another person (“the transferee”);bthe transferee has given an undertaking to the Department to assume the conditions of the approval in place of the beneficiary; andcthe Department has accepted that undertaking,the beneficiary shall be released from the conditions of the approval, other than in respect of any breach or other matter occurring before the acceptance by the Department of the transferee’s undertaking.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Other cases in which recovery </Repeal><Abbreviation Expansion="et cetera" xml:lang="la"><Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">etc.</Repeal></Abbreviation><Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true"> powers apply</Repeal>12The Department may exercise the powers contained in paragraph (1) (a) and (b) of regulation 13 where—athere has been a material change in the nature, scale, costs or timing of the approved expenditure in question or any operation to which it relates; orbthe operation to which approved expenditure in question relates has been or is being delayed, or is unlikely to be completed.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Department’s powers</Repeal>131The powers conferred by regulations 11(1) and 12 are—ato withhold the whole or any part of the financial support payable to the beneficiary; andbto recover on demand the whole or any part of the financial support already paid to the beneficiary.2Where all the circumstances in which the powers conferred by regulation 11(1) and specified in paragraph (1) have become exercisable are such as were intended by the beneficiary or as to which the beneficiary was reckless, the Department may also require the beneficiary to pay to it an additional sum equal to no more than 10 per cent of the financial support paid or payable to him.3Where the Department takes any step specified in paragraph (1) it may also serve in writing on the beneficiary a notice suspending or terminating the approval.4Where, under paragraph (3), the Department treats the approval as terminated, it may by notice in writing served on the beneficiary prohibit the beneficiary from making an application for the approval of expenditure in connection with an operation for such period (not exceeding two years) from the date of the termination as may be specified in the notice.5Before taking any step specified in paragraph (1), (2), (3) or (4) the Department shall;agive the beneficiary a written explanation of the reasons for the step proposed to be taken;bafford the beneficiary an opportunity to make written representations within such time as the Department considers reasonable; andcconsider any such representations.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Recovery of interest</Repeal>141Where the Department exercises the power conferred by regulation 13(1)(b) it may also recover on demand interest on the financial support to be recovered for the period beginning with the day following that on which the financial support was paid and ending on the day on which the Department recovers it.2The rate at which the interest is payable for any day in that period is one percentage point above LIBOR.3For the purposes of paragraph (2) “LIBOR” means the sterling three month London interbank offered rate in force on the day in question, and in any proceedings relating to the recovery of such interest a certificate of the Department stating the LIBOR applicable for any day is conclusive evidence of the rate applicable for that day if the certificate also states that the Bank of England notified the Department of that rate.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Recovery of payments</Repeal>15In any case where an amount falls to be paid to the Department by virtue of (or by virtue of action taken under) these Regulations, the amounts so falling to be paid shall be recoverable as a debt.<Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Offences and penalties</Repeal>161A person is guilty of an offence if:—afor the purposes of obtaining financial support for himself or any other person under these Regulations he knowingly or recklessly makes a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular; orbhe intentionally obstructs an authorised person (or a person accompanying him and acting under his instructions) in the exercise of his powers under regulation 10.2A person who is guilty of an offence shall be liable:—ain the case of an offence under paragraph (1)(a)—ion summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; oriion conviction on indictment, to a fine; andbin the case of an offence under paragraph (1)(b), to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on 6th February 2002.Liam McKibbenA senior officer of theDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development SCHEDULE<Strong><Repeal ChangeId="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0-1739879931105" CommentaryRef="key-934b4e941a1fc5cf630a638b1e98e7b0" RetainText="true">Meaning of “Community Legislation”</Repeal></Strong>Regulation 2(1)1Council Regulation (EC) No. 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds (O.J. No. L161, 26.6.1999, p. 1).2Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1750/1999 of 23 July 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (O.J. No. L214, 13.8.1999, p. 31, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2075/2000 of 29 September 2000 (O.J. No. L246, 30.9.2000, p. 46)).3Commission Decision (EC) No. 1999/501 of 1 July 1999 fixing an indicative allocation by Member State of the commitment appropriations for Objective 1 of the Structural Funds for the period 2000 to 2006 (O.J. No. L194, 27.7.1999, p. 49).4Commission Decision (EC) No. 1999/502 of 1 July 1999 drawing up the list of regions covered by Objective 1 of the Structural Funds for the period 2000 to 2006 (O.J. No. L194, 27.7.1999, p. 53).5Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1685/2000 of 28 July 2000 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1260/1999 as regards eligibility of expenditure of operations co-financed by the Structural Funds (O.J. No. L193, 29.7.2000, p. 39).6Commission Regulation (EC) No. 438/2001 of 2 March 2001 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) 1260/1999 as regards the management and control systems for assistance granted under the Structural Funds (O.J. No. L63, 3.3.2001, p. 21).7Commission Decision of 22 March 2001 approving the Programme for Building Sustainable Prosperity — C (2001) 637. (This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations, which come into operation on 14th March 2002, supplement in respect of Northern Ireland the Community legislation listed in the Schedule to the Regulations (“the Community legislation”). The Community legislation inter alia provides for support to be paid from the Guidance Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (“Community support”) towards investment relating to the marketing of quality agricultural products.

The Regulations operate within the scope of these provisions by enabling Community support to be paid by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (“the Department”) in respect of any expenditure it has approved. Such expenditure may be approved if it is eligible for assistance under the Community legislation and is expenditure for which support may be granted pursuant to the fourth indent of Article 33 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 (regulations 3 to 5).

The Regulations also provide for the making of claims for, and the payment of, grants following approval (regulations 6 and 7) and also contain provisions creating obligations on those in receipt of grants concerning the provision of information (regulation 8) and record-keeping (regulation 9).

In addition the Regulations confer powers of entry on certain authorised persons, including Officials of the Commission (regulation 10), introduce a system of penalties to be imposed in the event of a breach of obligations by granting the Department various powers to take action, up to and including termination of approval in the event of breaches of the conditions of an approval and in a number of other cases (regulations 11 to 13), provide power to recover interest on sums recovered and that these be classified as a debt (regulations 14 and 15) and create offences in respect of the furnishing of false information for the purpose of obtaining financial assistance and in respect of obstruction (regulation 16).

 S.I. 1999/2788 and S.I. 2000/3238 1972 c. 68 O.J. No. L160, 26.6.1999, p. 80 2001 c. 9 (N.I.) 1954 c. 33 (N.I.) Regulations revoked (30.10.2007) by Agricultural and Forestry Marketing Development Grant Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 (revoked) 2007 (S.R. 2007/417), regs. 1, 17(1) (with reg. 17(2))