Common Agricultural Policy (Hansard, 25 March 1993)

§ 16. Lady Olga Maitland
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to minimise the administrative burden on farmers within the reformed CAP.

§ Mr. Gummer
At my request, the Commission is examining ways of simplifying for the future the rules for the CAP reform schemes.

§ 18. Mr. Hunter
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent representations he has made to the European Commission and to Governments of other member states to ensure that the requirements of the common agricultural policy are practised and enforced in all member states.
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§ Mr. Gummer
I take every opportunity to insist that the rules of the CAP are enforced throughout the Community.
At last week's meeting of the Agriculture Council, I pressed the Commission to ensure that the integrated administration and control regulation is properly implemented in all member states.

§ 19. Mr. Peter Ainsworth
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to publish guidance and application forms for aid under the reformed CAP.

§ Mr. Gummer
Guidance on the individual schemes introduced as the result of CAP reform has been sent to producers. Application forms for aid are being distributed in line with the timing of the introduction of each scheme.

§ 20. Mr. Oppenheim
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the recent level of CAP frauds and measures taken to reduce the incidence of such frauds.

§ Mr. Curry
Fraud, by definition, cannot be quantified. Nevertheless, it is a serious matter and it remains a Government priority to continue to build on the recent progress made in the campaign against fraud. During the United Kingdom presidency, the rules for the integrated administration and control system were agreed by the Council. This system is designed to clamp down on fraud under the reformed CAP schemes and is to be applied equally in all member states. Additionally, following CAP reform, expenditure on export refunds, which has always provided scope for fraud, will be reduced. The Government will continue to take every opportunity to ensure action is taken by the Commission and our Community partners to improve fraud prevention and awareness.