Terms of Reference

To champion the cause of decreasing the level of regulatory burden that is faced by Northern Ireland Farmers by

• Establishing a baseline regarding the level and type of regulations facing farmers with an emphasis on that originating from DARD. This will include opening communications with the farming community to anecdotally identify which regulations are considered by them to be most onerous.
• Identifying and assessing how DARD operates in practise regarding transposing “regulation” into Northern Ireland law, assessment of impact of regulation, and any review of impact of such regulation including enforcement and sanctions.
• Identification of barriers that prevent simplification of, reduction in or cessation of regulation.
• Taking one specific area as an example, analyse the origin of the regulation and how it was transposed into law in Northern Ireland, including an analysis of the approach taken to the same regulation in other jurisdictions.
• Consider what actions needs to be taken (by DARD) to improve its approach to reducing the regulatory burden on farmers.
• To report to the Assembly on key findings and recommendations by January 2016