EU Private Storage Aid

Department's letter to the Committee informing it of the regulations

Central Service and Contingency Planning Group
Central Management Branch
Assembly Section
Room 430, Dundonald House
Upper Newtownards Road
Ballymiscaw
Belfast
BT4 3SB

Stella McArdle
Clerk to the Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
Room 243
Parliament Buildings
Ballymiscaw
Belfast
BT4 3XX

11 May 2020

Dear Stella

COVID-19 European Commission support for the agri-food sector

The Committee will wish to be aware that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic the European Committee has published a series of Regulations necessary to open Private Storage Aid (PSA) schemes in the dairy and meat sectors, which will allow the temporary withdrawal of products from the market for a period. The purpose of this letter is to provide the Committee with some detail of Private Storage Aid.

Detail

The granting of PSA for dairy (skimmed milk powder, butter, cheese) and meat (beef, sheep and goat meat) products will allow the temporary withdrawal of products from the market for a minimum of 3 months, and a maximum period of 6 months. Northern Ireland dairy and meat processors are able to avail of the schemes, whilst they are open, up to 15 October 2020 (as EU expenditure after 15 October 2020 falls into the 2021 EU Budget Year to which the UK is not contributing).
Under PSA schemes the product placed in storage remains the property of the relevant processor, unlike public intervention where the product is purchased by the European Commission. The release of the product from storage will be a matter for the respective processors, however its ultimate release to the market, following the end of the current COVID-19 restrictions, will need to be carefully managed to avoid any unintentional disruption to the market balance.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA), which is an executive agency of Defra - oversees the administration of the PSA schemes in the UK, with operational assistance in Northern Ireland being provided by DAERA’s Agri-food Inspection Branch.

The RPA has published on its website a notice to traders that the PSA schemes are now open for applications. This notice specifies the various conditions that must be met for an application to be eligible, and the contractual arrangements for storage. The application period begins on 7 May 2020 and ends on 30 June 2020.

The series of Regulations to give effect to the measures were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 4 May 2020 and came into effect on 5 May 2020. Read the Regulations.

Read the RPA’s information about private storage aid.

Yours sincerely
Departmental Assembly Liaison Officer