NFU Scotland’s demand for a more proportionate penalty system for those Scottish farmers who breach support scheme rules is gathering pace at home and at a European level. 

Following a critical EU audit of the UK’s procedures, the Scottish Government was obliged to bring in new penalty arrangements last year for those farmers in Scotland found to have breached rules on Single Farm Payments (SFP).  According to the Union, these penalties are now significantly out of line with the seriousness of the error leading to the need for a degree of proportionality to be factored in to penalty awards.

While there was no change in what constituted a breach of the rules in 2009, compared to 2008, there was a change in how the level of penalty was calculated.  This resulted in a significant increase in the level of penalty imposed.   The level of penalty for non-compliance is now three percent of a business’s SFP while in Scotland, up until last year, most cross compliance penalties have fallen into the one- percent category.

NFU Scotland is seeking a legal opinion on the retrospective application of the higher penalty rates in 2009, called on an influential European report on CAP simplification to recognise the need for proportionate penalties and written to a leading European civil servant on the issue.  The Union is also requesting a meeting in Brussels on the subject.

NFU Scotland President, Jim McLaren said:

"The changes to the penalty system were only confirmed at the end of last year, with many of our members suffering higher levels of penalties than expected.   In our view, these higher penalties were retrospectively imposed on their SFP following livestock inspections that had taken place much earlier in 2009.  

“We are seeking a legal opinion on whether the changes in the level of penalties for the year 2009 can be imposed in what we view as a retrospective manner. Scottish farmers were not aware of the impact of the new system until 23 November last year, when they received a letter from the Scottish Government informing them that as a result of the UK audit, cross compliance breaches were to result in a standard three percent payment reduction.

“That came as a real shock to the system to individuals as many of their cases contain very low numbers of errors found during inspections, making the penalties being deducted under the new penalty regime totally disproportionate.  We have members who have had several thousand livestock records inspected and have had two or three errors found under inspection.   Under the new regime they have lost three percent of their SFP – that is over-the-top and heavy handed.  

“When looking at errors, it is right that a farm's size or the number of livestock in the business should be taken into consideration.   In Scotland, the size of herds kept by some of our largest farms run into the thousands of cattle.   Despite adopting the best record keeping practices, it is virtually impossible, under inspection, for large herds to be error free leaving even the best run businesses open to penalties.   That cannot be right.

“We believe that there is scope for penalty rules to take proportionality into consideration and we have put forward appropriate amendments to the CAP Simplification report being prepared by MEP Richard Ashworth for presentation to the EU’s Agriculture committee next week (March 16) to this effect.

“Mr Ashworth’s initial report suggests that the basic aim of the whole inspection process should be to give advice to farmers and put them on the right track to better comply with the legislative requirements and that only continuous and repeated infringements result in penalties.   That sounds like commonsense to us and we would hope that MEPs, with greater powers under the Lisbon Treaty, would support such a move. 

“We also need civil servants on side with proportionality, and we have written to the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the European Commission about the level of penalties and made the case that proportionality must be taken into account when determining the level of fine.”

Notes for Editors

• The Agriculture and Rural Development Committee in Brussels will vote on Richard Ashworth MEP’s paper on Simplification of the CAP on Tuesday, 16 March.

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Contact Bob Carruth on 0131 472 4006