Regulation 2 Interpretation

In these Regulations—

• “agreement land” means land which is the subject of an environmental stewardship agreement;

• “agreement year” means a period of 12 months commencing with the date of, or the anniversary of the date of, the coming into effect of an environmental stewardship agreement;

• “beneficiary” means a person who has entered into an environmental stewardship agreement with the Secretary of State;

• “carry out”, in relation to an obligation under an environmental stewardship agreement or a feasibility study agreement, includes ensuring that the obligation is carried out;

• F1“Compendium of UK Organic Standards” means the Compendium of UK Organic Standards, F2September 2006 Edition, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;

• “conventional land” means agreement land which is not organic land;

• “conversion grant” means a grant for converting land to production in accordance with organic standards;

• “Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs M1 F3as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 780/2006;

• “date of application” means the date on which an application to enter into an environmental stewardship agreement is received by the Secretary of State;

• “ELS element” means obligations relating to ELS options;

• “ELS options” means the options set out in column 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 2 for which a points value per unit is specified in column 2 of that Part of that Schedule;

• “ELS points score” means the points score for conventional land calculated in accordance with paragraph 2 of Schedule 3;

• “ELS points target” means the points target for conventional land calculated in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 3;

• “environmental stewardship agreement” has the meaning given to it in regulation 3(2);

• “HLS capital works items” means the capital works items set out in column 1 of Parts 4 and 5 of Schedule 2;

• “HLS element” means obligations relating to—

  1. (a)

     HLS options; or

  2. (b)

     HLS capital works items;

• “HLS options” means the options set out in—

  1. (a)

     column 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 2 for which a maximum payment rate per agreement year is specified in column 4 of that Part of that Schedule; and

  2. (b)

     column 1 of Part 3 of Schedule 2.

• “improved land” means land which has been ploughed or has received artificial fertilizer during the period of 20 years immediately before the date of application and which is not—

  1. (a)

     top fruit orchard; or

  2. (b)

     planted with mature trees or shrubs or planted to woodland or coppice, unless such land is used for grazing or keeping livestock;

• “interest”, in relation to land, means—

  1. (a)

     a freehold interest;

  2. (b)

     a leasehold interest;

  3. (c)

     a licence to occupy; or

  4. (d)

     in relation to common land, a right to graze or to represent a person with such a right;

• “less favoured area” means all the land shown coloured blue and pink in the three volumes of maps numbered 1 to 3, each volume being marked “Volume of maps of less-favoured farming areas in England”, dated 20th May 1991, signed and sealed by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and deposited at the offices of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at Ergon House, 2 Horseferry Road, London SW1 2AL;

• “OELS element” means obligations relating to OELS options;

• “OELS options” means the options set out in column 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 2 for which a points value per unit is specified in column 3 of that Part of that Schedule;

• “OELS points score” means the points score for organic land calculated in accordance with paragraph 5 of Schedule 3;

• “OELS points target” means the points target for organic land calculated in accordance with paragraph 4 of Schedule 3;

• “organic land” means agreement land which—

  1. (a)

     is registered with a private inspection body either as being in conversion to organic farming or as being fully organic; and

  2. (b)

     if it is situated within the less favoured area, comprises of, or is situated within, a parcel with an area of less than 15 hectares;

• “organic standards” means the standards for organic production set out in the Council Regulation, as read with any additional provisions set out in the Compendium of UK Organic Standards;

• “parcel” has the same meaning as “reference parcel” in Article 2(26) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of cross compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers M2;

• “private inspection body” means a private inspection body approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of Article 9(4) of the Council Regulation M3;

• “special project activity” has the meaning given to it by regulation 5(9)(a);

• “special project element” means obligations relating to a special project activity;

• “specified purposes” means—

  1. (a)

     the conservation or enhancement of the natural beauty or amenity of the countryside (including its flora and fauna and geological and physiographical features) or of any features of archaeological interest there,

  2. (b)

     the promotion of the enjoyment of the countryside by the public, or

  3. (c)

     the upkeep of the landscape and historical features on agricultural land;

• “top fruit” means apples (excluding cider apple varieties), cherries, pears and plums.