Northern Ireland-Ulster Farmers Union see EU vote as positive.

Some positive news from EU parliament IPPC vote

The Ulster Farmers’ Union has described the EU Parliaments vote on the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive as a mixed bag for local farmers. The UFU has been lobbying MEP’s in advance of this weeks Parliament vote in Strasbourg; arguing that amendments to the Directive should not impose further costs and more bureaucracy on farmers.

UFU President Graham Furey said; "This issue is very important for pig, poultry and green house farmers in Northern Ireland. We have managed to persuade MEP’s to vote against the proposal to impose this costly licensing system on additional poultry units and this is a big win for poultry producers in Northern Ireland.

"MEP’s have agreed with our assertion 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 scope of 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"

Graham Furey said the UK farming unions would continue their co-ordinated IPPC lobbying campaign as the proposals now go forward to the EU Environment Council.

He 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.

"Rules around the spreading of manure are also an important aspect of the IPPC discussions, 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".