The UFU has been lobbying MEP's and this week proposals from the EU Commission to extend the scope of the Directive went to a vote in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
This issue is very important for pig, poultry and green house farmers in Northern Ireland. In Strasbourg MEP's voted against the proposal to impose the Directive on additional poultry units, vindicating the UFU's stance.
This is a big win for poultry producers in Northern Ireland. MEP's agreed that the EU poultry industry, consumers and the environment would not benefit from proposals to lower thresholds so that more poultry units are brought under the Directive.
Unfortunately the number of pig units which fall under the Directive could still increase due to the proposed introduction of new nitrogen excretion level rules and this will be an important issue for the Union to lobby on in the weeks ahead.
The UFU will be discussing the issue later this month with Environment Minister Sammy Wilson before the proposals go forward to the EU Council of Environment Ministers.
The UK farming unions will now continue their co-ordinated IPPC lobbying campaign. In the week ahead the leaders of the NFU England and Wales, NFU Scotland and the Irish Farmers' Association will meet with the UFU in County Down and IPPC will be discussed.
President Graham Furey said; "We now have clear priorities for the next stage in this process.
"We will be looking to defend the EU Parliament's amendment on poultry thresholds, and trying to convince decision makers that it is unhelpful to impose the Directive on more pig units".
There are also additional rules proposed for the spreading of manure, but Northern Ireland agriculture has already taken the necessary steps through the implementation of our Nitrates Directive Action Programme.
Graham Furey added: "We continue to hold the view that the IPPC Directive was designed for the industrial sector and does not fit with family farming in Northern Ireland.
"It leads to more cost and bureaucracy for farms, driving up the cost of food for consumers, and has no discernible benefits and we will continue to lobby to exclude as many local farms as possible from this European Directive".