THE report by the Better Regulation Task Force vindicated farmers' concerns about red tape, says the National Farmers' Union.

The report said the Government must work closely with the farming community to identify the potential problems of new regulations and reduce their impact. The Government should not implement EU regulations ahead of other states.

"The report is welcome because it tackles many of the issues we have raised with Government," said NFU president Ben Gill. "But it is important that it is seen as just the beginning of the process."

Mr Gill welcomed the report's recommendation that farm assurance schemes should be co-ordinated and streamlined so farmers do not have to cope with conflicting schemes.

While recognising the need to protect the environment, farmers have felt weighted down in recent years by countless new regulations including the climate change levy, Integrated Pollution Prevent Control regulations, the waste framework directive and the nitrates directive.

The report was commissioned by the Prime Minister as part of the Government's farming strategy. Chairman of the task force was Lord Haskins who said: "Farming has been subject to a considerable increase in regulations in recent years, but regulations are not at the root of the current crisis. The main problem lies with the strong pound, the drop in world commodity prices and the after-effects of BSE.

"Public concern about health and the environment means that the scope for extensive de-regulation is limited. But real progress can be made in reducing the burden of regulation.

"There is scope for considerable improvement in the sharing of information between departments and co-operation between officials involved in developing environmental and agricultural policies."

The report lists 21 recommendations which include calls for the various statutory authorities to co-ordinate their visits to farms, for specific improvements to existing regulations, for the Government to ensure that all farmers are on the internet by 2005 and for the Government to consider an ombudsman for the rural environment.

Other recommendations include:

The task force would like to see subsidies supporting environmental protection rather than food production

Regulators should concentrate on programmes of advice and education

MAFF needs to redefine its role as sponsor of agriculture, avoiding a conflict of interest with its sponsorship of the food industry.