Cross Compliance Breaches 2014September 28, 2015 12:00 amThe RPA has released its cross-compliance statistics for 2014. The number of failures has increased by almost 50% since the previous year; 4,391 compared to 2,972 in 2013 and 1,947 in 2012. The table below shows some of the main areas of non-compliance found in 2014 compared to 2013.CROSS-COMPLIANCE BREACHES – 2013 and 2014Measure20132014% ChangeSMR 11 – Food & Feed Law – TBn/a1,142n/aSMR 7 – Cattle ID and Registration950897-6%SMR 4 – NVZs562631+12%GAEC 1 – Soil Protection Review (SPR)535478-11%SMR 8 – Sheep & Goats ID246470+91%GAEC 14 – Protection of Hedgerows & Watercourses221186-16%SMR 18 – Welfare of Animals148172+16%GAEC 19 – No Spread Zones98147+50%GAEC 8 – Public Rights of Way5856-3%SMR 11 – Food & Feed Law6547-28%Total Breaches2,9724,391+48%Source: RPA The most common breaches have generally occurred in the same places as seen previously. However, the new TB measure, where failure to start a TB test within the testing window would automatically lead to a breach of cross compliance, saw a significant number of failures. Of the 1,142 TB breaches, 34% received a 1% payment penalty, 40% a 3% penalty, 25% a 5% penalty and 1% had payments cut by more than 15%.SMR 7 (Cattle ID and Registration) still sees the second highest failure rate at 897. According to the RPA, SMR7 breaches were mainly for cattle keepers failing to report movements or reported incorrectly.Strangely, the statistics have not been published on the gov.uk site this year as normal. This is apparently due to ‘format restrictions’; summary figures are available from the NFU. For 2015, the number of SMRs and GAECs has been reduced, although many of the rules remain the same. Full Cross Compliance guidance for 2015 can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cross-compliance-guidance-for-2015
