Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots has announced plans to reduce cross-compliance penalties for 2021. Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs) are requirements of area-based schemes such as the Basic Payment Scheme, Greening Payment and Young Farmers Reserve. The regulations cover the environment, climate change, public health, animal health and plant health and animal welfare, in addition to maintaining all their land in good agricultural and environmental condition. Where the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs finds a cross-compliance breach at inspection, a penalty is applied to the scheme payment. How are cross-compliance penalities calculated? The cross-compliance penalty regime includes two penalty matrices which set out the penalties to be applied depending on whether a non-compliance is found to be either intentional or negligent.