Under Article 12 of the EC Control Regulation 1975/2006 there is a requirement that at least 5% of beneficiaries who have management commitments (agri-environment and forestry - except establishment), under the Scottish Rural Development Regulation (SRDP) must be selected for an on the spot inspection each year.
Actual cost capital inspections (Axis 1, Axis 3 and establishment costs under the first afforestation of land) - will be subject to inspection prior to payment of the final claim. The sample chosen will represent at least 4% of the public expenditure declared to the Commission each year and 5% of the public expenditure over the whole programming period.
Cross-compliance checks will be carried out on 1% of all beneficiaries of agri-environment, animal welfare, first afforestation on agricultural land and forest-environment payments. The selection sample will be based on a cross compliance risk analysis.
In addition, checks will be carried out on all beneficiaries of agri-environment payments to ensure they are complying with minimum requirements for fertiliser and plant protection product use and the environmental condition to protect features or areas of historic or archaeological interest.
The inspection system is designed to reduce the number of visits to any individual beneficiary. These on the spot inspections will be amalgamated with other land-based SRDP schemes (e.g. LFASS, LMCMS, RSS) and will involve verification of all the undertakings of the beneficiary on the day of the inspection.