Organic Farming (England Rural Development Programme) Regulations 2001
| Year | 2001 |
2001 No. 432
AGRICULTURE, ENGLAND
The Organic Farming (England Rural Development Programme) Regulations 2001
Made 14th February 2001
Laid before Parliament 22th February 2001
Coming into force 19th March 2001
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, being a Minister designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to the common agricultural policy of the European Community, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by that section, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations—
Title, commencement and extent
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Organic Farming (England Rural Development Programme) Regulations 2001, shall apply to England and shall come into force on 19th March 2001.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
“aid” means the payments made under the support scheme referred to in Chapter VI of Title II of Council Regulation 1257/1999 in respect of that part of the England Rural Development Programme which relates to support for organic farming;
“agriculture” includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming or 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—
(a) as osier land, or
(b) for woodlands, except where that use is ancillary to any other use of land for the purposes of agriculture;
“application” means—
(a) an application for aid in writing, made under these Regulations, and in such form as the Minister may reasonably direct, or
(b) except in regulations 3 to 6, an application within the meaning of the Organic Farming Regulations made after 29th July 1999, which was made in accordance with regulation 9 of those Regulations and which was accepted by the Minister before 1st January 2000,
in respect of one or more organic parcels comprising the whole or part of an organic unit which comprises the whole or part of the applicant’s holding, and “applicant” and “apply” shall be construed accordingly;
“approved” means approved by an inspection authority;
“beneficiary” (except in regulation 10(2)) means—
(a) a person whose application has been accepted by the Minister, or
(b) a person who occupies an organic unit following a change of occupation of the holding, who has given an undertaking to comply with 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 the organic unit occupied by him, and whose undertaking in such terms has been accepted by the Minister;
“certificate of registration” means a certificate issued by an inspection authority in respect of an organic parcel, which—
(a) specifies the conversion period which applies in relation to that organic parcel, or the date on which that conversion period begins, and
(b) is accompanied by a schedule giving details of the land comprised in the organic unit of which that organic parcel forms the whole or part,
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” means the Commission of the European Communities;
“Commission Regulation” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1750/19993laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2075/20004;
“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 receipt; and
(b) in relation to any other organic parcel, not later than the fifth anniversary of the date of receipt;
“Council Regulation 2092/91” means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2092/915on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2020/20006;
“Council Regulation 3508/92” means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3508/927of 27 November 1992 establishing an integrated administration and control system for certain Community aid schemes, as last amended by Council Regulation 1593/20008;
“Council Regulation 1257/1999” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/19999on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund;
“date of receipt”, in relation to an organic parcel, means the date on which the Minister received an application in accordance with regulation 3(2), or in accordance with regulation 9 of the Organic Farming Regulations, in respect of that organic parcel;
“England Rural Development Programme” means the England Rural Development Programme approved by the Commission under Article 44 of Council Regulation 1257/1999;
“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 receipt, the year beginning with the date of receipt; and
(ii) in any other case, the year beginning with the anniversary of the date of receipt 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 Council Regulation 2092/91, details of such organic parcel or organic unit have appeared in the list referred to in that Article;
“grazing year” means any period of twelve months beginning with the date of receipt or any anniversary of the date of receipt;
“holding” has the meaning specified in Article 1.3 of Council Regulation 3508/92;
“inspection authority”, in relation to an organic unit or organic parcel, means—
(a) the authority designated by the Organic Products Regulations 200110for 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” means, in relation to the tenant of a holding, 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 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;
“Minister” means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;
“organic farming” means farming by organic farming methods;
“organic farming methods” means methods of farming which comply with the provisions of Council Regulation 2092/91;
“Organic Farming Regulations” means the Organic Farming Regulations 199911;
“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 Minister 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 holds 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 are to be registered in the future;
(c) the date 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 receipt and ending on the expiry...
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