The NFU has called for a bold programme of implementation after the Farming Regulation Task Force reported back to Defra today with more than 200 ideas to slash red tape.
Headed up by Richard Macdonald, the task force painted a vivid, 152-page picture of regulatory burden on farm businesses, estimated to cost £5-10 billion a year. It called for an 'entirely new culture’.
NFU President Peter Kendall said: “Today’s report is a testament to Defra Minister Jim Paice’s determination to tackle the regulatory burdens farm businesses have to cope with.
“For a long time now we have been calling on government to regulate better – not simply less or not at all, that’s not what this exercise is about.
“I firmly believe that all areas of farming can and will benefit from the task force’s work and I particularly welcome the report’s specific recommendation on planning, nitrates and water quality, pesticides and cross compliance – all areas highlighted in our submission.
“What is clear is that there is an awful lot of work to do and some difficult choices, for both industry and the government
“There will be challenges ahead, not least to ensure that the proposals from today’s report are taken up across the whole of Whitehall and its agencies and, crucially, in Europe too. We would encourage the minister to be bold on this front.
“Implementation may have implications for the industry too, not least in terms of us getting involved in how regulations are developed, and in skills training.
“Today’s report is the first and an important step pointing us towards real change. The next must be to regulate better, to free our farmers from the red tape that stifles their capabilities and impacts on their competitiveness. And above all to enable us to do what we are being called on to do: produce more and impact less.”
Read the full report here.
Find out more by visiting our better regulation channel, here.
- Christopher Sturdy - 19/05/2011
Wow. Huge congratulations to all concerned on such a goldmine of common sense, well written and totally free from jargon. If half these recommendations are adopted our lives will be revolutionised. If all of them were.....Every member should follow the links and read the summary of recommendations. If necessary put it into your favourites and read one page a week. Still worth it - then keep up the pressure for action. Don't let's let any of this get filed away and quietly ignored.