Farming red tape to be unravelled
The bureaucracy-busting promise was made as the independent Farming Regulation Task Force presented its recommendations for reducing the administrative burden faced by farmers and food producers.
The report makes more than 200 recommendations following an extensive review of all regulations that affect farmers and food producers and the way they are implemented.
Agriculture Minister Jim Paice said:
“We expect our farmers and food producers to maintain the highest standards, but the way to get them to achieve those standards isn’t to wrap them up in red tape – we need to free them from unnecessary burdens. We must trust in the industry’s ability to produce our food, manage our countryside and contribute to our economic recovery.
“I asked the Farming Regulation Task Force to challenge us and they have. This is an impressive piece of work with strong recommendations for reducing the burden that red tape has on the people who produce our food. I asked them to explore how we can move from regulations that focus on process to those that achieve the best end result and they have done this.
“This was never about a bonfire of regulations but about changing the culture of how we apply and enforce regulation. We will continue to defend our high standards for environmental management, animal welfare and food safety. I am particularly interested in the recommendations to allow industry to earn our trust and reward good practice with less frequent inspections.
“We have already identified a number of areas from the report where we can take immediate action, such as reducing the paperwork required under Nitrate Regulations and moving towards reporting all pig and cattle movement online. I’m also pleased to announce the creation of a new Strategic Regulatory Scrutiny Panel, tasked with challenging and advising us on the way we think about regulation.
“In the longer-term my priority will be to cut the unnecessary paperwork that farmers and food producers have to deal with and, wherever possible, move remaining paperwork online.”
The Government will now look closely at the Task Force’s other recommendations and publish an initial response this autumn with a full and final response early in 2012.
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