NFU delighted with abolition of fvp authorisation system

Fruit, vegetable and potato growers will be freed up from an authorisation system which will get scrapped in 2008 following months of lobbying by the NFU.

Today's announcement by farming minister Lord Rooker will enable growers to use their Single Payment Scheme land to grow fruit, vegetables and potatoes without the area restriction currently imposed by authorisations.

Fruit, vegetable and potato growers in the UK have found it increasingly difficult to rent land, while producers in eight of the new Member States were not burdened with this requirement.

The NFU had also criticised the system's historic approach which encouraged growers to produce eligible products rather than the product demanded by the market.

NFU horticulture board chair Richard Hirst said: "This is absolutely brilliant news. The SPS was meant to be an opportunity to remove restrictions on cropping but suddenly the FVP authorisation system restricted growers of fruit, vegetable and potatoes.

"It was an administrative nightmare, burdening growers with a lot of unnecessary extra work and red tape. Hopefully its end will make the administration of the SPS easier for the Rural Payments Agency. It will certainly make the planning of cropping much easier for growers."

NFU calls for orchard and nursery stock crops to be recognized under the SPS have also been acknowledged. Under the reforms, land used for the production of orchard and nursery stock crops will become eligible to support an SPS claim and may also attract the allocation of new payment entitlements. There will be a consultation on this issue.