AGRICULTURE Committee Vice Chairman Tom Elliott has called for the establishment of a new body, which will coordinate and carry out all farm inspections in Northern Ireland.
"The organisation would have responsibility for Cross Compliance, Nitrates and Farm Quality Assurance inspections," the Ulster Unionist MLA told Farming Life.
"I firmly believe this approach would help the Executive save money. It would certainly cu
t down on the amount of red tape and bureaucracy currently confronting farmers. Producers would also prefer liaising with a single agency when it came to dealing with an issue that has such an important impact on farm management practises."
He continued: "The LMC carries out farm quality assurance inspections at the present time. In my opinion this organisation has a vital marketing role to carry out for the red meat sector moving forward. However, there is no reason why Farm Minister Michelle Gildernew cannot transfer its inspection duties to a new body as part of the ongoing review into the future operation of the LMC."
Mr Elliott went on to highlight the new farm inspection rules, describing them as "completely illogical". He was speaking after a number of constituents contacted his office following inspections, including one man who was threatened with being penalised due to a small area under a single tree on his farm where grass doesn't grow.
Commenting on the new inspection rules, Mr Elliott said: "Everyone, no matter who they are, knows that rules are important when it comes to ensuring money is regulated correctly. This is as true for the Single Farm Payment as it is for anything else. However, these new inspections are going way beyond what is logical and acceptable. When I have constituents contacting my office who face penalties for tiny bits of land which have no grass then something has gone seriously wrong.
"Out of all the industries, farming has long prided itself on been managed largely by common sense. Now we have state officials clamping down on people and making them feel like common criminals when they happen to include a small piece of land in an application which may not even constitute 0.1% of their overall holding. It is a crazy situation, and one which must be addressed if more farmers who will be inspected in the coming months are not to end up facing the same ridiculous scenario.
"I would call upon Minister Gildernew and her department to sort this issue out with haste, and ensure that any farmer who has already been inspected does not lose out financially due to a decision which is made based on such over obsessive rules."
Mr Elliott has also welcomed the action taken by the coalition Government in Westminster to begin what some are calling a "bonfire of the quangos". With over 30 different agencies to be removed from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural affairs (DEFRA) alone, Mr Elliott said that a review aimed at cutting bureaucracy in the agricultural sector here should also be undertaken.
The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said: "The action taken by the Westminster Government to cull the number of quangos is one which will undoubtedly benefit them in the long run. There is nothing more soul destroying than for a farmer to have to suffer hours of form filling and box ticking when they could be better investing their time in making produce and managing their farm. You ask any farmer what they hate most about the industry and the vast majority will say the paperwork and having to deal with multiple agencies. It makes an already demanding job ten times worse.
"I would like to think that we in Northern Ireland could follow the example set by Westminster and make a real effort to cut down on the amount of red tape. We have an agricultural industry here which is the envy of many countries around the world. Our produce is top quality, and our farmers take a lot of pride in their work. We have to ensure that they have as much time as possible to actually spend on their farms doing actual farm work, rather than sitting at tables mulling over papers, and cutting the quangos is a good way to go about it. Furthermore, it is also a great way of saving money at a time when everyone is only too aware of the difficult economic situation we face," he added.
"I hope Minister Gildernew recognises the benefits of what is happening on the mainland, and that her department will work towards a local quango bonfire here."
