The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has made a Statutory Rule entitled “The Direct Payments to Farmers (Controls and Checks) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020" (S.R. 2020 No.105), which comes into operation on 20 July 2020 and is subject to the negative resolution procedure. The rule was made under powers conferred by Article 62(2) of Regulation (EU) No. 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the financing, management and monitoring of the Common Agricultural Policy. Regulation (EU) 1306/2013 was incorporated into domestic law by the Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Act 2020 (c. 2).

The amendment made by this SR will reduce the minimum rate of on-the-spot checks compared to the normal control rates for Greening, cross compliance, Basic Payment Scheme and young farmers obligations. It will also allow the use of alternatives to on-farm checks to verify that eligibility conditions have been met.

This amendment is for the 2020 Scheme year only, and is made is response to the difficulties in carrying out on-the-spot checks due to Covid-19 restrictions.

This rule may be purchased from the Stationary Office at www.tsoshop.co.uk or by contacting TSO Customer Services on 0333 202 5070, or viewed online at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr