Ministers support Nitrates derogation renewal

Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew MP, MLA and Environment Minister Edwin Poots MLA announced their joint commitment to secure a renewal of the derogation under the Nitrates Directive.

The current derogation expires on 31 December 2010 and an application for renewal must be made to the EU Nitrates Committee in Brussels. The derogation allows cattle farmers to maximise grass based production while also protecting water quality. It enables farmers to maintain higher stocking rates through better nutrient management planning and improves nutrient efficiency on the farm.

Minister Gildernew said: "The derogation is good environmental practice and makes economic sense. It enables farmers to maximise the nutrients in slurry and farm manures to reduce the costs of purchased fertilisers. It is important that we ensure the derogation is renewed for another four years beyond 2010."

Minister Poots commented: "The Nitrates Action Programme for 2011 to 2014 must be agreed with the European Commission as the first step in the derogation application process. The Action Programme contains vital measures to protect and improve the quality of our waters whilst balancing the needs of the agriculture industry."

Both Departments have been working together to produce a review of the current Action Programme. They met recently with stakeholders at AFBI Hillsborough, to gain views on the evidence gathered and their experiences with the Action Programme. This feedback will contribute to the final review submitted to the European Commission and to the formal consultation process in early 2010.

The derogation renewal application must again be based on comprehensive detailed scientific justification of local environmental and agricultural objectives. Officials from both Departments will meet with European Commission officials in January to discuss the Action Programme Review and derogation application.

Notes to editors:

1. The EC Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) requires Member States to introduce action programmes to reduce nitrates from agricultural sources entering the water environment and to review their action programmes every four years.
2. The Nitrates Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (NAP Regulations) came into operation on 1 January 2007 and must be reviewed by 31 December 2010. The NAP Regulations established measures to control the application and storage of livestock manures and fertilisers and apply to all farms across Northern Ireland.
3. The NAP Regulations set a livestock manure application limit of 170kg Nitrogen per hectare per year. Following their introduction, Northern Ireland successfully applied to the European Commission for derogation allowing farmers who meet certain criteria to apply up to 250kg Nitrogen per hectare per year from grazing livestock manures.
4. The European Commission Decision granting this derogation also expires on 31 December 2010 and needs to be renewed. Before an application to renew the derogation can be made to the European Commission there needs to be an acceptable action programme in place.
5. The EU Nitrates Committee has been notified of Northern Ireland’s intention to apply for renewal of the derogation. The formal application process will necessitate the collation of the scientific evidence necessary to support the application and presentation to the Nitrates Committee (comprised of Member States) at a number of meetings prior to a vote likely to take place in Autumn 2010.
6. A Scientific Working Group comprising officials from the Department of Environment, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, and the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise has produced a draft review.
7. A recent meeting and workshop with stakeholders from the agricultural industry and environmental NGO’s discussed the initial findings of the review. This also provided stakeholders with the opportunity to present evidence of their experiences.
8. The feedback from the workshop will contribute to the final review, with a formal consultation proposed for Spring 2010.
9. The review will incorporate better regulation principles as recommended by the Northern Ireland Agri-Food Better Regulation and Simplification Review Report, published in June 2009.
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