{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/agricultural-commodities-coronavirusincome-support-scheme-northern-ireland-2020/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/agricultural-commodities-coronavirusincome-support-scheme-northern-ireland-2020/note.json",
  "legislation": "nisr/2020/191",
  "legislation_title": "The Agricultural Commodities (Coronavirus)(Income Support) Scheme (Northern Ireland) 2020",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/agricultural-commodities-coronavirusincome-support-scheme-northern-ireland-2020",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Order)\nThis Scheme provides for financial assistance payments to be made by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to applicants who have suffered a financial loss as a consequence of a disturbance to the agricultural markets caused by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.\nThe Scheme—\n(a) specifies the manner in which applications are to be made (Article 3);\n(b) specifies the eligibility criteria and rate of payment (Article 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8)\n(c) provides for the review of a decision to reject an application (Article 10)\n(d) provides for the Department to withhold payment in any case where false or misleading information has been provided or where a person fails to cooperate with an authorised officer and to recovery any undue payment (Article 11);\n(e) enables an authorised officer to have access to relevant records and documents (Article 12).\nUnder section 4(1) of the Agriculture (Temporary Assistance) Act (Northern Ireland) 1954, any person who, being required or authorised under or by virtue of this scheme to furnish any information, record or document, furnishes any information, record or document which, to his knowledge, is false in a material particular shall be guilty of an offence and shall, without prejudice to Article 10 of the Perjury (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (S.I.) 1979/No. 1714 (N.I. 19), be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or to imprisonment not exceeding twelve months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.\nUnder Section 4(2) of that Act any person—\n(a) who acts in contravention of, or neglects or fails to comply with any provision contained in the Scheme; or\n(b) obstructs or impeded an authorised officer in the exercise of any power under this Scheme, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 of the standard scale.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2020/191/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T00:42:44.838124+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}