Spring 2007 Update on Single Farm Payment

Below is a summary of some recent announcements concerning Single Farm Payment:

Entitlement Statements
The RPA are currently issuing entitlement statements to all entitlement holders however there are a couple of problems that have been identified:
Incorrect Names – Almost 4000 statements have been sent out with incorrect names. New statements are now being reissued.
Transfers – The statements do not include many of the entitlement transfers which have taken place and therefore care needs to be taken to take account of any transfer when completing your 2007 claim form.

Entitlement Trading
The 2007 Entitlement Trading period closes on the 30th March. Anyone wishing to buy entitlements ought to be looking now in order to ensure all the paperwork is in place by this deadline. For details of the entitlements we currently have available please click here.

Cross Compliance
New cross compliance requirements come into force this year:
Issues for action identified in Soil Protection Reviews completed last year now need to be implemented.
Animal welfare legislation now forms part of cross compliance
Breaching cross compliance rules will now also constitute a breach of Environmental Stewardship (ELS, OELS & HLS) agreements and could result in penalties being applied to payments from both schemes.

Good News of 2006 Payments
The first farmers are now receiving their 2006 Single Farm Payments in full. The RPA have said they will make 50% interim payments in the middle of February to any farmers who haven’t received their full payment by then. Anyone who hasn’t received a partial payment by the end of February or indeed is still awaiting some or all of their 2005 payment should contact the RPA.

For professional advice on these and other Single Farm Payment issues please contact a member of our Rural Team.

Robert Young ~ Mark Hill ~ Christopher Graham ~ Paul Oughton ~ Brian Smith
Peter Kirby ~ Stuart Milsom ~ Margaret Bush

Tel. 01285 648 113                                                             Fax. 01285 640 494    

This newsletter is produced for guidance only and should not be used as a substitute for professional advice. Accordingly no liability or responsibility for any loss or damage can be accepted by Moore Allen & Innocent or other contributors as a result of any person, company or other organisation acting or refraining from acting upon comment on this newsletter.

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