Farmers have starting receiving letters from ABP giving them the option to opt in to pay the European Involvement Fund (EIF).
As revealed by the Irish Farmers Journal on Wednesday, ABP will no longer have an automatic levy system and farmers must now request that the levy is taken.
Farmers who wish to continue to pay the levy must express this in the letter sent by ABP.
Those wish to stop or do not respond to ABP’s letter will no longer have the levy deducted from their cheques.
Suspending the levy
The EIF levy was introduced in the early 1970s as a means to fund farmer union activities in Brussels.
In 2014, a little over €5.3m was collected through the farmer levy system or the European Involvement Fund (EIF) as it is more formally known.
Of the €5.3m in total levies collected last year, close to 90% of this (€4.7m) goes to the IFA. Levies from all sectors accounted for 37% of the IFA’s total income last year of €12.8m.
IFA president Joe Healy responded by writing to Larry Goodman instructing him to suspend the collection of the levy with immediate effect.
Listen to Irish Farmers Journal editor Justin McCarthy discuss Wednesday’s developments in our podcast below:
No plans to change mart levy collection but ‘IFA needs to look at other ways’
Opt in or opt out: mixed farmer reaction to levy controversy
What do the developments on levies mean for farmers?
SHARING OPTIONS