Call to Assembly to cut through red tape

NFU Cymru has called for the regulatory burden on Welsh farmers to be eased in its response to a consultation undertaken by the Welsh Assembly Government on the Eves Report.

NFU Cymru President Dai Davies said, "When the Eves Report was published last year, NFU Cymru felt that many of the recommendations were relevant to Wales and therefore worthy of further consideration, so we are pleased that the Assembly Government has undertaken this consultation.

"Amongst the issues examined by the consultation is consideration to a strategy of regulatory reform aimed at reducing the burden of red tape imposed on the farming industry in Wales. One recommendation contained in the Report, with which NFU Cymru wholeheartedly agrees, is the adoption of a merged and integrated single on-farm inspection body which would benefit the industry. We believe in fact that this recommendation is one of Eves' key findings.

"However, in the absence, or pending the establishment of, a single farm inspection body there undoubtedly has to be more effective co-ordination and collaboration between inspection agencies. Our members regularly report that they receive several inspections from various authorities within the space of a few weeks, which is wasteful in resource terms both for inspecting bodies and for farmers affected.

"One way of mitigating the frequency of farm inspections would be for Rural Payments Wales to collaborate closely with other inspecting agencies and share information about farm inspections. It has been our long-held contention that information about the performance of participants in FAWL (Farm Assured Welsh Livestock) should be taken into account by regulators in determining a risk-based approach to inspection."

Other recommendations put forward by NFU Cymru in response to the consultation include a call to the Assembly to ensure that the powers of inspectors should be appropriate to the enforcement task at hand.

Mr Davies concluded, "From the industry's perspective, there is concern that disproportionate penalties all too frequently apply and that there is not sufficient latitude to make provisions for genuine error. Also, cattle ID systems should be designed with ease of compliance by duty holders and enforcement by inspectors in mind."