Written question asked by James Paice (Conservative) on Friday, 22 October 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 November 2004. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Monday, 15 November 2004 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department or its predecessor applied to the EU Commission for a derogation from the Nitrates Directive to allow applications of 210kg/ha on arable land and 250kg/ha on grass land.

Answer: Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when her Department or its predecessor applied to the EU Commission for a derogation from the Nitrates Directive to allow applications of 210 kg/ha on arable land and 250 kg/ha on grass land. [193442] Mr. Morley: The Nitrates Directive permits member states to allow applications of 21 kgN/ha for the first four-year action programme. Member states do not have to submit an application to the EU Commission in this regard. Member states may allow a different application limit than the baseline of 170 kgN/ha set by the Nitrates Directive, though they must justify that decision to the Commission. As a result of earlier discussions with the Commission, the Department has initiated research to support the UK justification for the inclusion of a higher application limit within its action programmes.

Secondary information