Organic Farming (England Rural Development Programme) (Amendment) Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 3139).

These Regulations amend the principal Regulations 2001 which provide for the payment of aid to farmers who undertake to introduce organic farming methods. They implement an amendment to the England Rural Development Programme under sub-paragraph 3 of Article 35.2 of Council Regulation 1750/1999 (EC) No. 1750/1999. The Regulations amend the principal Regulations by inserting a new regulation 9A to enable applications to be accepted from farmers who have been unable, as a direct result of the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in England, to meet the normal criteria for acceptance of applications because their land has not been inspected by an inspection authority and they are consequently unable to provide a declaration that the inspection authority has approved a plan relating to the whole organic unit (reg. 3). The dispensation from that requirement is temporary, since the effect of new regulation 9A(8) is that, notwithstanding the acceptance by the Minister of such applications, no payment of aid will be made until the Minister has received a declaration by the applicant that the inspection authority has approved a plan.