The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is calling for the development of a fair and equitable Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) in Northern Ireland.
It is envisaged that the coming weeks will see a concerted attempt made to resolve this issue.
The DUP’s agricultural spokesperson, Carla Lockhart has confirmed that that many people had been very vocal regarding their opposition to the proposals currently on the table.
She said: “If implemented, they (the proposals) will decimate farming locally.
“Stormont’s farm minister has now agreed to an independent group overseeing the NAP process.
“I would question the independence of that group. An appointment by the farm minister cannot be deemed to be independent.”
Lockhart believes that the appointment of the chair of the new NAP group will be particularly important.
She said: “We need to see some meat on the bones of what actually is coming through as an amended package of proposal.
“Critical within all of this is a fully costed impact assessment, which must be carried out by staff within the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.”
The DUP representative pointed to the £1.56 billion in losses indicated by the initial impact assessment work carried out by AgriSearch staff on the original NAP proposals.
She said: “Farmers must be at the table when it comes to resolving the NAP issue for the future.
“My understanding is that the final NAP package of measures must get the approval of the Stormont Executive. It is a cross-cutting matter.
“If we still end up with a scenario that does not meet the needs of agriculture in Northern Ireland, the DUP will veto the entire process at that stage.”
Meanwhile, a cross party group of MPs is to meet at Westminster to seek changes to the recently published Finance Bill.
This bill is the measure through which the UK government will introduce changes to inheritance tax, which will have a direct, and much anticipated, highly negative impact on UK agriculture.
Inheritance tax
While attending the recent Clogher Valley Show, Lockhart confirmed to Agriland that the DUP “will be part of this process”.
She said: “I also welcome the intervention made by President Trump in highlighting the very real downsides that result in extending the scope of inheritance tax to the farming industry.
“The president obviously puts real value on farmers and the people that feed us. And I think it is right that the prime minister should take note of these comments and learn from them accordingly.
“The inheritance tax issue hasn’t gone away. The government has draft legislation in place at this stage.
“Working with other parties at Westminster, the DUP will seek to amend this.”
Lockhart has also confirmed that she is working with the chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee, Alistair Carmichael, on this matter.
She said: “The government must be forced into a U-turn on the inheritance tax issue.”
