There are two aspects to Cross-Compliance.
The first is Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs); set by the EU and apply to all Member States. The SMRs are made up of 19 European Directives and Regulations covering the environment, food safety, animal and plant health and animal welfare.
The second is a requirement for claimants to maintain their land in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC).
There are six GAEC measures which are designed to ensure that land is farmed in a way that does not damage the environment. It is important to note that one of these measures states that hedge maintenance is not permitted during the bird nesting season between 1 March and 31 August. This is to avoid damaging birds, nests and chicks. Many farmers have historically cut hedges in the run up to the July holidays but it should be noted that this is a breach of cross compliance and if cutting is carried out in this period, penalties could be imposed on Single Farm Payment. Roadside and laneside hedges may be cut where there is a health and safety requirement, it is useful to check with DARD before proceeding with this.
EU law requires at least 1% of applicants to be inspected for the different Cross-Compliance standards. In some cases there is a higher inspection rate e.g. Cattle Identification and Registration.
Inspections for the various aspects of cross-compliance are currently taking place. There are different teams responsible for carrying out these inspections: DARD Service Delivery Group will inspect Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) requirements, Food and Feed Law, and the Safe Use of Pesticides.
DARD Veterinary Service Group cover Animal Identification, Illegal hormone use, Feed and Food Law, Disease notification and Animal welfare. The Northern Ireland Environment Agency will inspect all the other environmental aspects including the Nitrates and Phosphorus Regulations.
The NI Environment Agency are currently carrying out the environmental inspections. During an inspection the Agency will look at records for the Nitrates and Phosphorus Regulations.
It is important that farmers and landlords have the necessary paperwork ready. The NI Environment Agency can request 2007 and/or 2008 records and will normally give around a weeks notice of an inspection. Most of the records required are already available on farm and details of these can be found in the Nitrates Guidance Booklet sent out to all farmers in 2007. Records must be retained for 5 years.
Under the N and P Regulations it is important that farmers establish who is the "controller" of land. The "controller" is responsible for complying with the nitrates and phosphorus rules from 1 January – 31 December. The owner of the land is assumed to be the 'controller' unless evidence can be provided to the contrary. This evidence can either be if the tenant is claiming Single Farm Payment on the land for that period, or there is a written agreement between the owner and the tenant establishing control of land. Farmers and landlords must have the necessary documentation showing land control available for inspection and a template nitrates controller agreement is available from UFU Group Offices for Union members.
The Ulster Farmers' Union are concerned that many farmers in Northern Ireland may be unaware that the land they take in conacre may not be under their control for compliance with the Nitrates and Phosphorus Regulations and therefore cannot be used for the calculation of the various limits.
If you are a UFU member and receive notification of an inspection then you can ring Union Headquarters for telephone advice on how to prepare.