RPA must make payments to fruit and veg co-ops before Christmas

The NFU is calling on the Rural Payments Agency to take the decisions necessary to ensure it can release payments due to fruit and vegetable co-operatives in time for Christmas.

The call comes after a recent EU judgement led to the suspension of payments to all UK producer organisations (POs) while Defra and the RPA established a new policy to ensure that POs were able to comply with the new EU law.

Sarah Pettitt, chairman of the NFU’s Board for Horticulture, said: “The RPA has had ample time to establish the new policy and POs and their grower members have been extremely patient. What we need now is rapid progress to ensure that those POs that pass muster and comply with the new EU law can have their claims paid before Christmas.”

Ms Pettitt said the NFU also wanted to see the RPA release the claims made for payment by fruit and vegetable co-operatives before the EU judgement was published on September 30.

“There is no reason why these legitimate claims should be being held up by the RPA because they were made before the EU judgement was published. These payments are a vital lifeline for POs and we hope the RPA will see sense and ensure that they too are paid before Christmas,” she said.

Notes to editors:

1. The judgement was made by the EU Court of First Instance and handed down to the French authorities on the issue of the provision of technical facilities (including shared facilities) by French POs to their member growers. The judgement changed EU law and required Member States to ensure all their POs complied or risk disallowance plus fines as well as the return of all monies from POs considered to have been illegally paid. 

 

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