Lord Bach gives green light to tackle red tape

All sectors of UK agriculture are having to face rising levels of bureaucracy and associated paperwork.

This was the claim made by members of the National Pig Association at their recent meeting with DEFRA minister, Lord Bach.

Lord Bach has asked NPA members to identify those areas of red tape that require simplification.

John Godfrey, a leading NPA member and large scale pig breeder and finisher, highlighted a number of major areas of concern.

These include the Climate Change Levy Scheme which has resulted in a whole series of complicated and hard-to-understand calculations.

Carcass incineration and the effects of the Waste Directive are also causing problems. 

These have included the late introduction of requirement for incinerators to be fitted with afterburners rendering many recent models redundant.

Concerns over the interpretation of the Waste Directive were also aired with calls for much greater simplification of the waste rules to be introduced.

Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations will also apply to large indoor units, adding a further tier of regulations and controls to this sector of the industry.

John Godfrey complained that he already had to cope with four State Veterinary Service visits a year to check incinerators, the prospect of twice yearly IPPC inspection and compliance with single farm payment rules as well.

NPA Chairman Stewart Houston claimed that if the Climate Change Levy Scheme was simplified he could get a lot more farmers to join.