FOURTH REPORT
The Agriculture Committee has agreed to the following
Report:—
ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION AND FARMING
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The Government has identified the regulatory
burden on the agriculture industry in the United Kingdom as a
matter to be addressed with some urgency in the context of the
current crisis in most farming sectors. In our First Report of
this Session, we welcomed the initiative of the Minister of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food in establishing three working groups on regulation,[2]
and we are pleased that he has subsequently responded so positively
to their recommendations. At the same time, however, we are aware
that farmers are facing the implementation of new legislation,
originating either from the UK Government or from the European
Union, which imposes further costs and obligations on a struggling
industry. Some measures concern animal welfare, for example, the
Welfare of Laying Hens Directive (99/74/EC); others have environmental
objectives. In this Report, we concentrate on the latter, although
we believe that many of our findings and comments have a wider
application and that the principles we establish should apply
across the board.
2. We announced our inquiry into environmental regulation
and farming on 24 November 1999, seeking evidence on the impact
of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (IPPC)
and the climate change levy on intensive farming, particularly
pigs, poultry and horticulture.[3]
These two measures are the cause of great concern in the agriculture
industry in view of the high additional costs which will fall
on farmers as a result of Government decisions. Both pieces of
legislation arise from international obligations - in the case
of IPPC from a European directive; for the climate change levy
from the Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gases -
but the means of implementation in both instances has been largely
a matter of UK Government discretion. The IPPC directive and the
climate change levy can therefore be taken as test cases of the
Government's attitude towards regulation in the agriculture industry
and the implications of this for the cost burden and for competitiveness.
It is sensible to examine the two measures together as those sectors
subject to IPPC are to be eligible for a possible 80% rebate on
the climate change levy. Of the farming sectors we have identified,
pigs and poultry fall under IPPC, while all agriculture and horticulture
businesses will pay the climate change levy.
3. We held two evidence sessions in February 2000
with the National Farmers' Union (NFU), the Meat and Livestock
Commission (MLC), the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC), four
horticulturists, the Environment Agency, Mr Stephen Timms MP,
Financial Secretary to the Treasury and the Rt Hon Michael Meacher
MP, Minister for the Environment, Department of the Environment,
Transport and the Regions. In addition, we received over thirty
written submissions. More than half came from individual farmers
or growers, indicating the level of concern in the industry. We
also understand from the NFU that "several hundred farm businesses
mainly from the horticultural industry have written to the Treasury
to express their concerns" about the climate change levy.[4]
We are grateful to everyone who contributed to our inquiry.
Structure of the Report
4. In this Report we examine first the introduction
of IPPC and its impact on the pig and poultry sectors. We then
consider the issues raised by the climate change levy for all
farm businesses and specifically for horticulture. Section IV
of the Report takes a wider view of the regulatory burden, while
Section V contains our conclusions and a summary of
recommendations. We should state that our recommendations
address IPPC as applied in England and Wales and the climate change
levy as applied throughout the UK, in accordance with Government
responsibilities post-devolution.
2 First Report from the Agriculture Committee, Session
1999-2000, The Current Crisis in the Livestock Industry,
HC 94, para 10. Back
3 Agriculture
Committee Press Notice No. 2, Session 1999/2000. Back
4 Ev.
p. 16. Back
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