22 January 2010 - 02/10
Growers who may have been affected by Bical going into administration have now been advised regarding their 2009 Aid for Energy Crops claims.
Growers may be covered by one of the following three sets of circumstances.
The energy contract they sent with their 2009 SPS application was with one of the four Bical subsidiary companies, BiSel, BiCep, BiEcc or BiEd, and that contract remains in place.
If they deliver the 2009 harvest to the subsidiary collecting company, and send RPA an ENC9 (delivery declaration) signed by themselves and an authorised signatory of that subsidiary collecting company, RPA will pay their Aid for Energy Crops. We will pay this together with any SPS payment, as long as they have met the other scheme rules.
They decide to cancel their contract or withdraw their Aid for Energy Crops claim relating to one or all of their contracts, and write to tell us (either by completing an ENC 7 form or by sending us a letter with details of the areas and contracts concerned).
We will remove the relevant Aid for Energy Crops from their 2009 application form without penalty, and we will continue to work on their SPS claim.
If a grower has been told they will be inspected or has been told that some of their Aid for Energy Crops area is not eligible, they cannot withdraw their Aid for Energy Crops claim. If they write to RPA to cancel their contract or withdraw their Aid for Energy Crops claim, they cannot later reverse this decision.
Growers have delivered their 2009 harvest to a collector or first processor they were not contracted to when they submitted their 2009 SPS application.
RPA will not be able to pay Aid for Energy Crops for the area covered by the new contract. We cannot accept an amendment to their contract so that a new company becomes the collector or first processor. We will not apply any penalty to their 2009 SPS claim because of this, if they tell us about the cancellation of the contract with Bical or withdrawal of their Aid for Energy Crops claim and we will continue to work on their SPS claim.
However, if a grower does not tell us about the cancellation of the contract with Bical or withdrawal of their Aid for Energy Crops claim, we may have to apply penalties to any Aid for Energy Crops claimed and to future payments under SPS and related schemes.
What growers need to do
If either B or C applies, they should write to:
Lisa Oddy, Aid for Energy Crops Manager,
Rural Payments Agency, PO Box 1058, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE99 4YQ
Growers are asked to do this as soon as possible so we can continue to process their 2009 SPS claim.
If a grower was not due to harvest their energy crop in 2009 they are asked to check they have completed and returned their ENC9 form to declare a nil harvest, or have written to tell us. They need to do this to ensure we pay their Aid for Energy Crops. If they are telling us about a nil harvest we do not need a signature from the collector or first processor.
Securities
We will only return Aid for Energy securities that have been lodged with us by the collector or first processor if the crop has been delivered to the original contracted collector or first processor, and processed into the contracted energy end-use. Once we have successfully completed our checks we will return them direct to the collector or first processor that provided them.
Page published: 22 January 2010