Article 4 Definitions and related provisionsF1E1

"farmer" means a natural or legal person, or a group of natural or legal persons, regardless of the legal status granted to such group and its members F2..., whose holding is situated within F3Northern Ireland, and who exercises an agricultural activity;

"holding" means all the units used for agricultural activities and managed by a farmer situated within F4Northern Ireland;

"agricultural activity" means:

1. (i)

   production, rearing or growing of agricultural products, including harvesting, milking, breeding animals, and keeping animals for farming purposes, F5or

2. (ii)

   maintaining an agricultural area in a state which makes it suitable for grazing or cultivation without preparatory action going beyond usual agricultural methods and machineries, based on criteria established by F6the relevant authority F7...

3. (iii)

   F8...

"agricultural products" means the products, with the exception of fishery products, listed in Annex I to the Treaties F9...;

"agricultural area" means any area taken up by arable land, permanent grassland and permanent pasture, or permanent crops;

"arable land" means land cultivated for crop production or areas available for crop production but lying fallow, including areas set aside in accordance with Articles 22, 23 and 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999, with Article 39 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 and with Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, irrespective of whether or not that land is under greenhouses or under fixed or mobile cover;

"permanent crops" means non-rotational crops other than permanent grassland and permanent pasture that occupy the land for five years or more and yield repeated harvests, including nurseries and short rotation coppice;

"permanent grassland and permanent pasture" (together referred to as "permanent grassland") means land used to grow grasses or other herbaceous forage naturally (self-seeded) or through cultivation (sown) and that has not been included in the crop rotation of the holding for five years or more, F11and, where the relevant authority so decides, that has not been ploughed up for five years or more; it may include other species such as shrubs and/or trees which can be grazed and, where F12the relevant authority so decides, other species such as shrubs and/or trees which produce animal feed, provided that the grasses and other herbaceous forage remain predominant. F13The relevant authority may also decide to consider as permanent grassland:

1. (i)

   land which can be grazed and which forms part of established local practices where grasses and other herbaceous forage are traditionally not predominant in grazing areas; and/or

2. (ii)

   land which can be grazed where grasses and other herbaceous forage are not predominant or are absent in grazing areas;

"grasses or other herbaceous forage" means all herbaceous plants traditionally found in natural pastures or normally included in mixtures of seeds for pastures or meadows in the F14United Kingdom, whether or not used for grazing animals;

"nurseries" means the following areas of young ligneous (woody) plants grown in the open air for subsequent transplantation:

• vine and root-stock nurseries,

• fruit tree and berries nurseries,

• ornamental nurseries,

• commercial nurseries of forest trees excluding those for the holding's own requirements grown within woodland,

• nurseries of trees and bushes for planting in gardens, parks, at the roadside and on embankments (e.g. hedgerow plants, rose trees and other ornamental bushes, ornamental conifers), including in all cases their stocks and young seedlings;

"short rotation coppice" means areas planted with tree species F15... F16... defined by F17the relevant authority that consist of woody, perennial crops, the rootstock or stools of which remain in the ground after harvesting, with new shoots emerging in the following season and with a maximum harvest cycle ... determined by the F18relevant authority;

"sale" means the sale or any other definitive transfer of ownership of land or payment entitlements; it does not include the sale of land where land is transferred to public authorities or for use in the public interest and where the transfer is carried out for non-agricultural purposes;

"lease" means a rental agreement or similar temporary transaction;

"transfer" means the lease or sale or actual inheritance or anticipated inheritance of land or payment entitlements or any other definitive transfer thereof; it does not cover the reversion of entitlements upon expiry of a lease;

“constituent nation” means England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, as the case may be;

“national reserve” means a reserve established by the relevant authority at the level of the constituent nation;

“regional reserves” means reserves established by the relevant authority at regional level;

“relevant authority” means—

“appropriate authority” means—

‘total ceiling’ means the amount determined in accordance with Article 5A.

the criteria to be met by farmers in order to fulfil the obligation to maintain an agricultural area in a state suitable for grazing or cultivation, as referred to in point (c)(ii) are the criteria set by the relevant authority prior to exit day;

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

land that has not been ploughed up for five years or more shall be considered permanent grassland as referred to in point (h) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, provided that the land is used to grow grasses or other herbaceous forages naturally (self-seeded) or through cultivation (sown) and that it has not been included in the crop rotation of the holding for five years or more;

permanent grassland may include other species such as shrubs and/or trees which produce animal feed, in areas where grasses and other herbaceous forage are predominant; and/or

land which can be grazed where grasses and other herbaceous forage are not predominant or are absent in grazing areas be considered permanent grassland as referred to in point (h) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1.

31st January 2015, in the case of a decision taken under the second subparagraph;

31st March 2018, in the case of a decision taken under the third or fourth subparagraph.