Now that political agreement has been reached on the reform of the fruit and vegetable regime, Brussels and Defra are turning their attention to the implementing regulations which will be crucial in how the RPA implements the decisions reached by Ministers. Amongst a number of areas where the role of the NFU’s PO focus group will be vital in determining sensible implementing measures will be the requirements on environmental measures and the national strategy. The timetable is still unclear but it is expected that POs will be required to implement the new requirements of the regime from their 2009 prgrammes.

Separately Defra will also be considering when they will implement the removal of fruit, vegetable and potato authorisations (the NFU has been pressing Defra to remove authorisations for the 2008 SPS application and to make this decision known before this autumn) and to consult the industry on the opportunity for providing payment entitlements to growers of top fruit.

The NFU and PO’s will be ‘getting round the table’ with Defra to ensure that the interests of the industry are represented in this crucial next stage in the reform of the regime.

Topics