The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has made S.R. 2025 No. 191, the Farm Sustainability Standards (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025. The instrument was made on 28 November 2025, sealed with the Official Seal of DAERA and signed by Anna Campbell, a senior officer. It comes into operation on 1 January 2026 and modifies the principal Farm Sustainability Standards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 (S.R. 2025 No. 165).
The Regulations are made under sections 48 and 50(3)(a) and paragraph 5 of Schedule 6 to the Agriculture Act 2020. DAERA describes the changes as miscellaneous amendments and corrections to the statutory framework that governs conditions for farm support payments in Northern Ireland.
The schedule structure is clarified. References to “the Schedule” in the principal instrument are replaced with “Schedule 1”, and “Part 1” is inserted under the Schedule heading. Within that schedule, paragraphs previously numbered 12, 13 and 14 are renumbered 1, 2 and 3 respectively, aligning numbering with how cross-references now operate within the instrument.
The environmental baseline is restated. DAERA must ensure the farm sustainability standards are underpinned by environmental protection requirements and must set out in legislation, as a constituent part of those standards, the minimum environmental protection requirements that apply to beneficiaries.
Cross-references are aligned to the revised schedule. In Article 96(3) and 96(4), references to “this Title” are replaced with “Schedule 1, Part 1”. Additional ambulatory wording is inserted so that references in Article 67(1)(b) and Article 71(2) apply “as amended from time to time”. A minor drafting correction removes text from the word “extent” to the end of the sentence in Article 65(1)(d).
The sanctions model is reset through a substituted Article 99. The minimum penalty for any determined non-compliance is the issuing of a warning letter by or on behalf of the competent authority together with completion of mandatory training. The maximum penalty may not exceed 100% of all payments made or due in the scheme year in which the recurrence was determined, and may include exclusion from payment from all schemes for the two scheme years immediately following.
Oversight provisions in Article 72(4) are adjusted. The first subparagraph is omitted entirely. In the second and third subparagraphs, wording from “or co-ordinating authority” to the end of each subparagraph is removed, deleting those references while leaving the remainder of Article 72 in place.
Terminology used in the penalty provisions is refined. In the relevant paragraph, the word “negligent” is omitted from the first subparagraph. In the second subparagraph, the phrase “percentages of” and the words from “However,” to the end of the subparagraph are removed, updating the drafting that governs how reductions are described.
The Explanatory Note states that the amendments include removal of the first paragraph of Article 74(1) of the Implementing Regulation. This sits alongside the other textual corrections recorded in the instrument to keep the Northern Ireland scheme consistent with the intended operative provisions.
For farm businesses and advisers, the operative date is 1 January 2026. From that date, any determined non-compliance will at minimum trigger a warning letter and mandatory training, while the ceiling allows for loss of up to 100% of payments in the relevant scheme year and exclusion from all schemes for the following two scheme years. Claimants should confirm how “scheme year” is defined in their payment documentation and be prepared to evidence completion of any training required by the competent authority.