2020 Single Application Rules Booklet: update April 2020
We have made changes to the Basic Payment Scheme, Greening and Single Application Form (SAF) deadline in 2020.
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Changes
The changes listed below are as a result of both the storms earlier this year and the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic measures.
The European Commission has provided ‘Member States’ with the opportunity to extend the SAF deadline to 15 June, due to COVID-19.
As a result, the SAF deadline in Wales is now 15 June.
Here is a breakdown of key dates which have altered:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 15 May 2020 | Closure of Transfer and Lease of BPS Entitlements 2020. |
| 15 June 2020 | Closing date for receipt of SAF 2020, without penalty. |
| 15 June 2020 | Closing date for submission of documentary evidence to support claims made under the SAF 2020, without penalty. |
| 30 June 2020 | Final day to make amendments and additions to the land declared on the SAF 2020, without penalty. |
| 10 July 2020 | Final day for receipt of SAF 2020 (subject to late penalties). All SAFs received after 10 July will be rejected. |
| 10 July 2020 | Supporting documentary evidence received between 16 June and 10 July will be accepted but will incur a financial penalty. All supporting documentary evidence received after 10 July cannot be accepted. |
| 20 July 2020 |
Final day for response to the ‘Preliminary Checks: Permanent Features and Duplicate Fields’ letter in order to avoid penalties. |
You should notify the RPW customer contact centre immediately:
- if you are unable to access broadband
- if you are unable to access an appropriate computer
to submit the online SAF by the new deadline.
The Customer Contact Centre and Farm Liaison Service can talk you through the process, in conjunction with the SAF: How to Complete Guide.
Crop Diversification
We are introducing legislation to remove Crop Diversification obligations for 2020.
As a result, you may disregard all reference to Crop Diversification in the Greening Guidance. No Welsh farmer is now required to comply with Crop Diversification, as both Two Crop and Three Crop requirements have been removed.
When completing the SAF, you may notice that Crop Diversification warning messages are displayed but these can be ignored.
Removal of Crop Diversification requirements also means there is no longer a need to submit seed labels with your SAF.
All other SAF warnings remain applicable and ignoring them may affect your payment.
BPS customers can still qualify for Greening payment as a result of permanent pasture and Ecological Focus Area (EFA) declarations only. It is important to note EFA requirements still apply, as set out in the SAF rules booklet.
Transfer and lease
As a result of the SAF deadline extension, it has been decided to extend the period in which BPS entitlements can be traded also. BPS entitlements can now be transferred until midnight 15 May 2020.
Please refer to the BPS Trading of Entitlements guidance for information on how to notify us of a Transfer of Entitlements.
SAF 2020 supporting documents
All SAF 2020 supporting documents must be submitted by the new date of 15 June 2020.
RPW will accept all SAF 2020 supporting documents uploaded onto RPW Online. This includes geo-tagged photos, scanned and photographed documents.
You should notify RPW immediately if you are unable to submit any SAF supporting documents by the deadline. You can do this by using RPW Online or the Customer Contact Centre.
By doing this, you will be able to submit those documents you cannot upload after the deadline of 15 June 2020. If you do not notify RPW that you will submit documents after the deadline, those documents will not be considered as part of your application.