Farmers will be given 28 days to pay a €250 fixed payment notice (FPN) in cases of tagging and registration breaches, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed.
The department added that where a farmer chooses not to pay the fixed payment notice, a prosecution may be taken.
As part of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), compliance with tagging and registration as a statutory minimum requirement (SMR) was removed.
This means that cross compliance or conditionality penalties can no longer be applied to a farmer’s direct payments for breaching these requirements.
The change came into force with the new CAP from January 1, 2023.
DAFM
According to a DAFM spokesperson “robust traceability systems” are an essential element in protecting animal health, along with Ireland’s reputation for producing safe and nutritious food.
The department is required to carry out official controls and to set down rules on penalties where infringements were discovered.
“These penalties must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. From this year, breaches of tagging and registration rules will be managed through a fixed payment notice of €250,” the department told Agriland.
Under IDR (identification and registration) and traceability rules, farmers are expected to:
- Tag all livestock by tagging deadlines;
- Register all calves within seven days of tagging;
- Notify movements of all livestock promptly;
- Replace lost tags promptly;
- Keep the herd register up-to-date at all times.
The level of farm inspections is maintained at 3% of holdings for cattle, sheep and goats.
“The change from a conditionality penalty to fixed payment notice will not have any impact on the level of inspections carried out,” the DAFM spokesperson said.
In 2021, the department carried out 3,607 bovine IDR inspections and 1,380 sheep and goat IDR inspections.
In addition to the IDR inspections, the department also undertook 703 full cross-compliance inspections, which includes both bovine, sheep and goat elements.
The department said that data in respect of 2022 cross compliance inspections is not available as the outcome of those inspections is being finalised.
“As 2023 IDR inspections have not commenced, no fixed penalty notices have been issued relating to animal tagging and registration issues to date in 2023,” the DAFM spokesperson confirmed.