This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Details of 2004 Sheep Annual Premium Scheme
03/11/2003
The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) today announced that from Tuesday, November 11, sheep producers in Scotland may notify transfers and leases of quota to cover claims under the 2004 Sheep Annual Premium Scheme.
This will enable producers to obtain quota or dispose of any surplus quota for the 2004 Sheep Annual Premium Scheme (SAPS) which opens for premium applications on December 4, 2003.
Completed transfer and lease notification forms must reach the Department by Wednesday, February 4, 2004, the deadline for submitting claims for Premium - any forms received after that date must be rejected. Producers are advised to make their quota trading decisions and ensure that transactions are notified to SEERAD as early as possible in the trading period.
Producers with more than twenty units of quota should note that they must use at least 70 per cent of their sheep quota in the 2004 scheme year otherwise the unused part will be withdrawn without compensation.
However, producers with twenty or fewer units of quota must use 70 per cent of their quota every other year if they wish to avoid having quota withdrawn. To use quota in this context means either to claim premium on it or to lease it out.
Notification forms and explanatory leaflets for the transfer and lease of suckler cow quota for the 2004 Scheme year will be available at the Department's local area offices from November 11. If producers wish to take advantage of these arrangements, it is their responsibility to obtain the form, complete it correctly and return it to the Department by the due date.
Notification forms SAP-Transfer-2004 for notifying transfers of quota and SAP-Lease-2004 for the temporary leasing of quota and an Explanatory Leaflet will be available from Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) local area offices from November 11.
Producers may not dispose of quota by transfer or lease in the 2004 notification period if they received quota from the national reserve with effect from the 2002 or 2004 Scheme years.
It is the responsibility of the producers selling or leasing out quota to ensure that they have sufficient quota at their disposal to allow the transaction to take place. If for example they have not used all their quota in 2003, they should satisfy themselves that they will not be subject to a withdrawal of quota under the usage rules affecting their 2004 quota position, as this could lead to the transfer or lease being rejected.
Separate but similar arrangements are being made in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.