Welsh government turns down appeals for TB-test fines

More than half of all farmers who are challenging fines imposed for overdue TB tests in Wales have lost their appeals.
Since January 2015, farmers in Wales who have failed to meet TB testing requirements have faced losing some of their Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) subsidy.
New figures from the Welsh government show that, since the introduction of this policy, 112 appeals have been lodged against financial penalties.
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To date, 81 of these appeals have been completed and only 19 were successful. Sixty-two appeals failed and one of the appellants withdrew the action.
European legislation allows the government some discretion to remove cross-compliance penalties if overdue tests are due to exceptional circumstances.
Thirty of the 112 appeals are still being investigated.Â
Health and safety
The government declined to detail the circumstances of the appeals, but it is known that at least eight of the late tests were related to health and safety concerns.
Under the regulations, all tests that are overdue by more than 31 days are subject to a 5% penalty, with this failure categorised as a “severe breach” of cross-compliance.Â
The size of the penalty depends on the number of days a test is late – for tests overdue between one and 10 days there is a 1% penalty and for 11 to 30 days 3% is deducted from a farmer’s BPS.
Farmers who refuse a subsequent enforced test arranged by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) stand to lose all their BPS money.
NFU Cymru president Stephen James cautioned all cattle farmers in Wales to comply with the annual TB test, but added: “Unforeseen, genuine circumstances do occasionally occur as to why the test cannot be completed on time.
“Therefore, any Basic Payment Scheme penalty system by the Welsh government needs to be proportionate and fairly take into account these exceptional events.”