Home
News
update:Aug 31, 2006
England hosts workshops to help farmers understand new legislation
Workshops to help pig and poultry farmers across England understand
new regulations to control pollution have been organised by the Environment
Agency, National Farmers' Union and pig and poultry industry organisations
including the National Pig Association.
Pollution Prevention Control (PPC) regulations will require large-scale pig
and poultry farms to have a permit in order to control the impact they have on
the environment. Operators are being urged to prepare in good time to make their
applications.
Rob Robinson, Agricultural Policy Manager for the
Environment Agency said: "Farmers have told us they sometimes find new
regulations daunting and difficult to understand.
"So it is important
we communicate with them the in best way possible to make things as easy as we
can for farmers. This is why we have been working closely with the farming
industry organisations like the National Farmers' Union to set up these
workshops and put all the new legislation into context."
In order to
continue to operate legally, farms with places for more than 750 breeding sows,
or 2,000 production pigs and poultry producers with more than 40,000 birds will
have to apply for permits between November 2006 and January 2007. At present
failure to comply could lead to fines of up to £20,000 or a three-month
custodial sentence.
With around 1,200 producers estimated to be
affected by the new legislation, both the Environment Agency and NFU are keen to
ensure the application process is as straightforward as
possible.
National Farmers' Union Poultry Board chairman, Charles
Bourns said: "We are supporting the Environment Agency to hold these workshops.
They are a really useful opportunity for producers to get a handle on the new
legislation and submit an application in time to meet the
deadline."
National Pig Association manager, Barney Kay said: "These
workshops are an excellent opportunity for the producers to receive advice on
completing their applications which should help eliminate errors in filling out
the forms."
For more information, visit the
Environment Agency website.
Editor WorldPoultry
To comment, login here
Or register to be able to comment.