Policy paper

Agricultural framework progress update: September 2018

Published 12 September 2018

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

A joint statement by the UK Government and the Welsh Government

As agriculture is a devolved area, each administration of the UK will have the opportunity to develop policy to suit their own unique circumstances once the UK has left the EU. Both the UK Government and the Welsh Government have consulted separately on new agriculture policies to replace the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) in England and Wales, respectively.

The UK Government published a ‘Framework Analysis’ policy paper in March 2018. This paper set out 153 areas where EU law currently intersects with devolved competence. This is where the UK Government and devolved administrations would need to work together to determine whether we would need UK or GB wide common approaches in future. It will be guided by the principles agreed at JMC (EN) in October 2017. The paper also identified a list of 24 policy areas to be subject to more detailed discussion to explore whether a legislative common framework arrangement might be needed, in whole or in part. The list included “agricultural support”.

As we leave the EU and the CAP, we want our farmers and those with an interest in agriculture to be clear that we have been and will continue to work closely together. We want to achieve better outcomes for our farming industry, and to facilitate an open and transparent dialogue as our proposals develop.

The Agriculture Bill provides both administrations with new powers to bring replacement schemes into effect, as well as extending some provisions to Northern Ireland ^{[footnote 1]}. However, the Bill does not contain a legislative framework for these powers. This reflects the fact that the UK Government and Welsh Government are of the view, based on discussions to date, that the vast majority of policy areas can be suitably managed through non-legislative, inter-governmental coordination.

As part of this process, we are proposing to develop an administrative framework for co-ordinating agricultural support spending and changes to marketing standards. The aim of this is to ensure effective co-ordination and dialogue between the administrations on how any changes to legislation in one part of the UK may affect other parts. This framework will tie in closely with planned common UK frameworks being developed for other policy areas. There are other areas identified within “Agricultural Support” that we are expecting to work on while the Agriculture Bill passes through the UK Parliament. These include market intervention and data collection and sharing. Other agriculture-related frameworks within the 24 identified, on organic farming, the environmental release of GMOs, zootech and fertiliser regulations are also being discussed. Our joint aim is to reach agreement on all of these areas in order for frameworks to be in place by the end of the Implementation Period (December 2020).

We are also discussing arrangements for cross-border holdings, which is of particular interest to the numerous farmers along the English/Welsh border. We are aware that farmers with holdings that straddle borders and those with holdings located in another administration will want to ensure their businesses can operate as smoothly as possible. Our intention here is to reduce bureaucracy and to provide clarity for these businesses.

It is still the ambition of the UK Government and the Welsh Government to work towards a UK-wide approach where that is necessary. We fully expect our close collaboration to continue with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland (DAERA) and the Scottish Government over the next 18 months to agree and implement administrative frameworks to set out future working and coordination on agriculture. As part of that process, we welcome the views of Parliament, the devolved legislatures and wider stakeholders on these proposals.

1. Given the absence of local Ministers in Northern Ireland to take decisions about future agricultural policy, UK Government Ministers have sought to ensure as far as possible that the status quo can be maintained until a new policy direction can be established. There is a need to take care not to prejudge or constrain the ability of an incoming Minister, NI Executive and NI Assembly to decide what is appropriate for the Northern Ireland agri-food sector. The overarching principles that have been applied when considering the extension of clauses to NI are:

   • to ensure the continuation of a legal basis to provide the current suite of agricultural support payments (and options) post EU exit
   • to ensure that the NI Executive has maximum flexibility to develop future agricultural policy consistent with the principles agreed by JMC(EN), including ensuring the functioning of the UK Internal Market
   • that the Agriculture Bill does not constrain the ability of the NI Executive to continue current schemes and options available under the Rural Development Programme and Common Market Organisation provided for by existing and retained EU legislation, for as long as NI Ministers consider this appropriate

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