Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme in Scotland: call for input

Introduction

The Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme (sometimes referred to “the scheme” throughout this document) is a legacy EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) scheme. It provides aid to groups of fruit and vegetable growers, recognised as producer organisations, to encourage them to work collaboratively and increase the quality and quantity of the produce they grow.

The EU legislation was brought in to domestic law so it could carry on as it originally operated. The Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme is established by and under Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, which is supplemented by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/891 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/892.

Since leaving the EU, the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme in Scotland has been funded by the Scottish Government. We wish to consider ways in which we can improve the scheme for Scotland so that it works as efficiently and effectively as possible under the constraints of a limited budget now that it is no longer funded by the European Commission.

We are calling for stakeholder views on specific aspects of the regulations where we have identified that there is scope to make amendments, through targeted reforms, which would help contribute to the longevity of, and certainty around, the scheme. We would also welcome more general views to inform future development of the scheme which will form the basis of a future consultation.