Fibres
| Quick links |
|---|
Fibre production in the UK is currently a specialist niche industry, but with some potential for future growth. A substantial proportion of British fibre goes to the continent to be made into components for car manufacture. Other uses include fibrous matting for insulation, to line hanging baskets and to prevent erosion of road verges, materials for the construction industry and pet bedding. 2004 hemp and flax plantings extended to just under 3,000 hectares.
The Home
Office
issues licences and offers guidance on siting commercial hemp plantings
due to possible confusion in the public's eyes between industrial hemp
and illegal cannabis.
Support available
Flax and hemp may be eligible for aid. In 2005 the Arable
Area Payments Scheme. was replaced by the Single Payment Scheme. Queries should be directed to the appropriate Rural
Payments Agency
(RPA) local office.
Aid may also be payable via the Fibre
Processing Aid Scheme
on the tonnage of fibre produced by an authorised primary processor.
The most recent rate payable was £60.54 per tonne. Queries should
be addressed to the RPA at Northallerton on 01609 773751.
Third country imports of hemp
Since 1 May 2002 all imports (from outside the EU) of raw true hemp, hemp seeds for sowing and hemp seeds other than for sowing, are subject to new licensing requirements.
Imports of hemp as detailed above need to be accompanied by a licence issued by the RPA. Importers of hemp seeds other than for sowing are subject to additional requirements. They must apply for 'authorised importer' status from the RPA in advance of applying for licences, and they are responsible for obtaining end-use attestations from the ultimate user of the seeds.
Further information can be obtained from Joanne Lockey at the RPA in Newcastle on 0191 226 5267.
The future
Reform of the EC Fibres Regime resulted in a lower rate of aid payable, in line with reductions in aid for other supported crops. The introduction of the Single Payment Scheme in 2005 should mean that hemp and flax are always grown for real markets. Future commercial opportunities will tend to lie with novel, high value products.
The Government Industry Forum on Non-Food Crops, set up
to evaluate opportunities for non-food crops and to provide strategic
advice to Government, commissioned a case study on the potential for UK
grown fibre crops in composite materials. A report on the case study was
published in the Forum's first annual
report 
(967 KB - NB large filesize). The recommendations made in it are being
addressed by the Government. The National
Non-Food Crop Centre
is now promoting the use of non-food crops and their uptake by industry.
A forthcoming European Commission review will look at aspects of the fibres regime. A report will be produced examining production trends and the impacts of reform, possibly making recommendations on re-apportionment or changes in limits on fibre production for each Member State. It will also look specifically at processing aid for short fibre, making recommendations as to whether it should continue beyond the 2005/2006 marketing year. The report will look at the viability of the sector under the present regime, and is due to be completed by the end of 2005.
A report has been published recently on UK flax and hemp production and its future in the context of forthcoming reforms to the European Union fibres regime. The report, commissioned from ADAS, looks at prospects for industrial fibre production under different reform scenarios.
Research and other information
An online compendium of completed and ongoing research is available. In addition, specific research reports are available on this site.
Hemp
Homes
is a unique project by the Suffolk Housing Society to build four identical
houses, two houses using hemp mixed with lime as the principal material,
the others using traditional brick and block construction. The Hemp Homes
project is an innovative and exciting experiment which tries to identify
the true environmental and commercial advantages of building homes using
this particularly ecological and highly sustainable building material.
Further information is available on our Help
page about downloading or reading Adobe Acrobat
documents.
Page last modified: 13 October 2005