Arable Area Payment Scheme 2004
APPENDIX 8: MULTI-ANNUAL SET-ASIDE
We closed this option to new applicants with effect from AAPS 2003
1. Under certain circumstances, you may enter your land into multi-annual set-aside. This option provides for the same land to be set aside for up to five years while guaranteeing that you will not be adversely affected by any decreases in the basic rate of aid (in euros) or any reduction in the yield under the regionalisation plan.
2. If you want to enter land into a multi-annual set-aside agreement, you need to fill in a form IACS 22 (2003), which is available from your local area office, and return it by 15 May 2004. If you are entering land that has been planted to short-rotation coppice, you should put this on the form. If you need to have a management plan approved, you need to send form IACS 23 (2003) to your local area office at any time. You can get more information on preparing a management plan in leaflet AAP (2003) MAS/MP.
3. Depending on your status, you may enter into agreements for three, four or five years.
- If you are an owner-occupier or a tenant farmer with five or more years of your tenancy left, your agreement can be for three, four or five years.
- If you are a tenant farmer with less than five years of your tenancy left, you may enter into an agreement to cover the remaining full scheme years of your tenancy (but this must be at least three scheme years).
4. If you are a tenant farmer, we advise you to consult your landlord before you enter into a multi-annual set-aside agreement. If you are farming on a short-term tenancy of less than three years, we would advise you not to enter into a multi-annual set-aside agreement unless you have written confirmation from your landlord that they will renew your tenancy.
5. Other than land used to grow non-food crops such as short-rotation coppice (where the rules in paragraphs 149-152 apply), you must manage land entered into multi-annual set-aside in line with:
- the management rules in paragraphs 75-113; or
- a management plan that has been approved by your local area office.
6. If you are not entitled to set aside up to 100% of your claimed area and you then reduce the cropped area of your claim so that the area under multi-annual set-aside is bigger than 50% of your claim, you may adjust the area covered by the agreement accordingly to make sure you stay within the limit on set-aside land. No penalty will apply to the area you then withdraw from the multi-annual agreement.
7. The commitment under multi-annual set-aside relates to the land. If occupancy of the land changes during the three- or five-year agreement period, the new occupant may take over the agreement for the rest of the agreement period (and must follow any management plan). If the new occupant does not take over the agreement, penalties will apply to the previous occupant.
8. If a new holder of a multi-annual set-aside agreement fails to follow the terms of the agreement at any point during the rest of the agreement period, penalties for early withdrawal will apply. If you want to transfer your multi-annual set-aside agreement, we strongly advise you to get professional advice before you enter into any arrangements.
9. If you intend to withdraw from a multi-annual set-aside agreement or transfer the agreement to another farmer, you must fill in form IACS 24 (2003). If you are transferring the agreement, you and the other farmer must sign the form. You must then send the form to your local area office within three months of the transaction taking place, or 15 May if this is sooner.
10. Under the EU Regulation, if a producer deliberately goes back on an agreement before it ends, penalties will apply. This means that you must keep to the agreement for the full three or five years, unless:
- the area is to be afforested under an agri-environment scheme; or
- there is a change in the farm structure beyond your control.
11. You may leave an agreement or reduce the area covered by it without penalty in the circumstances described at paragraph 9. However, a penalty will apply for any plot withdrawn if you fail to:
- declare the land as set-aside in your application for AAPS aid;
- follow the management conditions; or
- follow the terms of any management plan.
We will work out the penalty as follows:
Area x (set-aside payment rate x 5%) x the number of years left in the agreement.