The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) has taken the first steps in a legal challenge against the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland (DoE NI), over its interpretation of the Waste Management Regulations (Northern Ireland) SR 2006/280 (referred to by some as the Farm Waste Regulations). The DoE NI, as elsewhere in the UK, is insisting on farmers applying individually for farm waste exemptions. These are needed to perform tasks such as putting old tyres on silage clamps, using rubble to repair farm tracks and burning old fencing posts.
However, the UFU say this demand for individual exemptions runs against written advice they have received from the EU Commission, and is a clear example of UK authorities "gold-plating" an EU Directive. UFU president Kenneth Sharkey said, "We believe it is not acceptable that a local government department is imposing a complicated registration system on every farm business in Northern Ireland, when it is clear that a much simpler, generic registration for the entire industry is acceptable to the EU Commission."
The DoE NI has been urging Northern Ireland's 27,000 farmers to register for individual waste exemptions before 31 July 2007, however the UFU is now advising its members to wait till nearer the deadline to see the outcome of legal proceedings.
