Open consultation Consultation on potential technical amendments to legislation governing the Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme in Northern Ireland

Summary

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (the Department) is seeking views on proposals for technical amendments to the legislation governing the Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme (FVAS) in Northern Ireland.

Documents

• Stakeholder Letter Adobe PDF (263 KB)
• Proposed Amendments Adobe PDF (107 KB)

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Consultation description

The FVAS is available to farmers and growers that have come together to form Producer Organisations (POs) to strengthen their position in the supply chain and increase competitiveness. POs in the fruit and vegetable sector are eligible for financial assistance for an approved Operational Programme under the FVAS. Departmental Funding is provided at up to 50% of the eligible costs incurred and capped at 4.1% of the PO’s Value of Marketed Production (VMP). The remaining costs are met by the PO members’ contributions to an operational fund.

The Agriculture Act (Northern Ireland) 2025 (the Act) amended the assimilated legislation governing the FVAS in Northern Ireland and provided powers to make further changes via subordinate legislation. The Department now proposes to use these powers to make some technical amendments to FVAS legislation. The key changes will be to ensure that only NI growers can benefit from the Department’s support under the FVAS, make technical changes needed as a consequence of the Act, and to otherwise ensure the legislation will remain fully operable.

Fuller details of the FVAS itself can be found at the link below:

• Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme.