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Sheep Annual Premium Scheme Quotas - Explanatory Guide

SECTION THREE: RING-FENCE AREAS

Ring-fence designation

21 In Great Britain all quota is designated as being within one of five ring fence areas (RFAs).
These are:

• the Scottish Highlands and Islands LFA (HIE-LFA),
• the remainder of the Scottish LFA, and
• the English less-favoured area (LFA),
• the Welsh LFA, and
• the Great Britain non-LFA (Non-LFA).

22 Your holding is assigned to one RFA only, depending on the location of the greatest proportion of the land you farm. As a general rule quota cannot be moved between ring-fences. To receive premium payments you must ensure that the RFA designation of your quota matches the overall RFA designation of your holding. Producers cannot hold quota for more than one ring-fence.

23Your 'holding' means all the production units in the United Kingdom farmed by you or made available to you for farming (not just sheep farming) including any land held on a short-term letting/licence. The RFA designation of your holding is determined for each scheme year on the basis of the land you hold on 15 May. Normally this will be on the basis of the information entered on your IACS form. For further details of who must complete an IACS form, please see Annex 2.

24 Please note that for SAPS claimants the relevant IACS declaration is the one submitted after the premium claim for that year; thus for example the quota you hold for the 2000 scheme year must match the overall RFA designation of your holding as it will be on 15 May 2000.

However, if your RFA changes between 5 February and 15 May in any Scheme year (the SAP retention period) your RFA will be determined by the land declaration entered on your SAP claim form for that year.

Production units in three or more ring-fence areas.

25 If your holding is situated in three different ring-fence areas, but at least 50 per cent of your holding is in the LFA, even if the largest production unit is in the non-LFA, the LFA designation will take precedence. For example:

Changes to ring-fence designation

26 If you move to a different ring-fence area you will not be able to use your existing quota to receive premium in the new ring-fence. Similarly, if as a result of acquiring or disposing of land, including any short-term lettings/licences, you alter the proportion of your holding in each ring-fence area and your ring-fence designation changes, you will not be able to use your existing quota to receive premium.

The ring-fence of your quota must match the ring-fence of your land to ensure subsidy payment.

Changes to ring-fence designation - effects on national reserve and supplementary allocation recipients

27 When taking a decision to move holding or acquire land or dispose of land, you should bear in mind that if you hold national reserve quota and/or a supplementary allocation of quota, you will not be able to dispose of any quota for three scheme years starting with the scheme year in which your allocation becomes effective (see paragraph 57). This restriction applies to all quota you hold including any which does not match the ring-fence designation of your current holding. Thus if the RFA designation of your holding changes as a result of your move or land changes, you will not be able to dispose of any of the quota you already hold. As a result you will not receive premium payments in respect of the quota of the incorrect RFA designation.

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