Identification of agricultural parcels

«Reference parcel» shall mean a geographically delimited area retaining a unique identification as registered in the GIS in the Member State's identification system referred to in Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003;

the agricultural parcels checked, the agricultural parcels measured, the results of the measurements per measured agricultural parcel and the measuring methods used;

4.The eligibility of agricultural parcels shall be verified by any appropriate means.

particulars permitting identification of all agricultural parcels on the holding, their area expressed in hectares to two decimal places, their location and, where applicable, their use and whether the agricultural parcel is irrigated;

an indication of the species of seeds sown on each parcel;

1.A parcel that contains trees shall be considered an agricultural parcel for the purposes of the area-related aid schemes provided that agricultural activities referred to in Article 51 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 or, where applicable, the production envisaged can be carried out in a similar way as on parcels without trees in the same area.

Member States shall, moreover, ensure that agricultural parcels are reliably identified and shall in particular require the single application to be furnished with particulars or accompanied by documents specified by the competent authority that enable each agricultural parcel to be located and measured.

the structure of the agricultural parcel systems, and the complexity of the agricultural landscape;

the number of agricultural parcels and the area or number of animals for which aid is requested;

A measurement tolerance may be defined by the competent authority that shall not exceed either 5 % of the agricultural parcel area or a buffer of 1,5 m applied to the perimeter of the agricultural parcel.

However, the maximum tolerance with regard to each agricultural parcel shall not, in absolute terms, exceed 1,0 ha.

Animals and plots of land shall be identified in accordance with Articles 18 and 20 of Regulation (EEC) No 1782/2003.

Where a rural development support measure relates to areas, parcels shall be identified individually.

The second part consists of a physical inspection of the parcels to verify the actual size of the agricultural parcels declared and, depending on the aid scheme in question, the declared crop and its quality.

4.Each Member State shall determine the minimum size of agricultural parcels in respect of which an application may be made.

They shall relate to parcels and livestock covered by a support measure in order to avoid all unjustified payments of aid.

on all parcels to verify the species or variety group of seeds sown on each parcel declared;

1.The identification system for agricultural parcels referred to in Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 shall operate at reference parcel level such as cadastral parcel, or production block which shall ensure unique identification of each reference parcel.

Overdeclarations in respect of one parcel may, therefore, be off-set against underdeclarations of other parcels of the same crop-group.

On-the-spot checks of farmers submitting aid applications do not necessarily have to be carried out on each individual animal or agricultural parcel.

However, the actual inspection in the field as part of an on-the-spot check may be limited to a sample of at least half of the agricultural parcels for which applications have been submitted.

During the period covered by a commitment, parcels receiving support may not be exchanged except in cases specifically provided for in the programming document.

carry out physical inspections in the field of all agricultural parcels for which photo interpretation does not make it possible to verify the accuracy of the declaration to the satisfaction of the competent authority.

In the case of hemp grown for fibre, all information required for the identification of the parcels sown in hemp for each variety of hemp sown shall be provided.

2.The total area of an agricultural parcel may be taken into account provided that it is fully utilized in accordance with the customary standards of the Member State or region concerned.

For the sake of effective monitoring, each Member State should, furthermore, determine the minimum size of agricultural parcels that may be subject to an aid application.

Detailed rules are needed with regard to the system for the identification of agricultural parcels to be operated by the Member States in accordance with Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.

«National geodetic system» shall mean a coordinate reference system which permits standardised measurement and unique identification of agricultural parcels throughout the Member State concerned;

2.The Member State shall ensure that with regard to at least 75 % of the reference parcels being subject to an aid application, at least 90 % of the respective area is eligible pursuant to the single payment scheme.

between the agricultural parcels as declared in the single application and the reference parcels as contained in the identification system for agricultural parcels to verify the eligibility for aid of the areas as such;

On-the-spot checks of areas, as a general rule, consist of two parts, the first of which relates to verifications and measurements of declared agricultural parcels on the basis of graphic material, aerial photography and so forth.

4.In the case of an application for the crop specific payment for rice provided for in Chapter 3 of Title IV of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, the single application shall contain a specification of the variety of rice sown and an identification of the respective parcels.

Moreover, the graphical material supplied to the farmer in accordance with that same provision shall indicate the boundaries of the reference parcels and their unique identification and the farmer shall indicate the location of each agricultural parcel.

2.The submission of an amendment to a single application after the latest date as provided for in Article 15(2) shall lead to a 1 % reduction per working day in the amounts relating to the actual use of the agricultural parcels concerned.

perform photo interpretation of satellite images or aerial photographs of all agricultural parcels per application to be checked in accordance with paragraph 4 with a view to recognising the ground cover and measuring the area;

On-the-spot checks shall cover all the agricultural parcels for which aid is requested under aid schemes listed in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, except those related to applications for seed aid in accordance with Article 99 of that Regulation.

1.Agricultural parcel areas shall be determined by any appropriate means defined by the competent authority which ensure measurement of a precision at least equivalent to that required for official measurements under the national rules.

7.Where a holding is transferred in its entirety from one farmer to another farmer during the period referred to in Article 44(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, the transferee may use the parcels concerned for the purposes of submitting an application for payment under the single payment scheme.

Where an application for payment is included with an application for an area payment in the context of the integrated administration and control system, the Member State shall ensure that parcels covered by applications for rural development support are declared separately.

Where aid is paid for the production of certain crops, experience has shown that, in relation to the determination of the area of agricultural parcels eligible for area payments, it is necessary to define the acceptable width of certain features of the fields, in particular hedges, ditches and walls.

3.For the purpose of the identification of all agricultural parcels on the holding referred to in paragraph 1(d), the pre-printed forms distributed to the farmer in accordance with Article 22(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 shall mention the maximum eligible area per reference parcel for the purposes of the single payment scheme.

on declared payment entitlements and on declared parcels, respectively, in order to avoid undue multiple granting of the same aid in respect of the same calendar or marketing year and to prevent any undue cumulating of aid granted under area-related aid schemes listed in Annexes I and V to Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003;

3.Where the competent authority has already informed the farmer of irregularities in the single application or where it has given notice to the farmer of its intention to carry out an on-the-spot check and where that on-the-spot check reveals irregularities, amendments in accordance with paragraphs 1 shall not be authorised in respect of the agricultural parcels affected by the irregularities.

1.After the expiry of the time limit for the submission of the single application, individual agricultural parcels, as the case may be, accompanied by the corresponding payment entitlements, not yet declared in the single application for the purposes of any of the area-related aid schemes, may be added in the single application provided that the requirements under the aid schemes concerned are respected.

3.Further to paragraph 2, in the case of parcels being declared for the purposes of the single payment scheme, any features referred to in the acts listed in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 or which may form part of the good agricultural and environmental condition as referred to in Article 5 and Annex IV of that Regulation shall form part of the total area of an agricultural parcel.

3.For the purposes of this Article, where a farmer applying for aid for energy crops in accordance with Article 88 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 or declaring parcels as set-aside in accordance with Article 55 point (b) or Article 107(3) first indent of that Regulation fails to deliver the requisite quantity of any given raw material, he shall be deemed to have failed to fulfil his obligation as regards parcels intended for energy purposes or set-aside, respectively, in respect of an area calculated by multiplying the area of land cultivated and used by him for the production of the raw materials by the percentage shortfall in deliveries of that raw material.

The concepts of 'agricultural parcel' and 'forage area' should be clarified to ensure that parcels are correctly declared and identified.

General principles in respect of agricultural parcels

the agricultural parcels checked, the agricultural parcels measured, the results of the measurements per measured agricultural parcel and the measuring methods used;