YPPAT: The bill for the strengthening of agricultural production is in public consultation

The Minister of Rural Development and Food, Lefteris Avgenakis, on the occasion of the publication of the bill for consultation, said: “With the bill, we provide solutions to pending years in the primary sector. With innovative arrangements such as the creation of livestock parks, fishing tourism, the framework and conditions for the parallel production of agricultural products and the operation of agro-photovoltaics, we are opening new paths for our farmers. The most important innovation we are introducing is the creation of Agricultural Departments in the Chambers, with the aim of strengthening professional farmers and equipping them with knowledge, which will enable them to successfully cope with the challenges of the new era. We are moving forward, with strength and courage, modernizing agricultural production with the sole final goal of giving new perspectives to Greek farmers”.

The goals set with the new bill

• Creates livestock parks to house animals supporting the viability of small livestock businesses.
• It tackles the bureaucracy and provides a solution to the chronic problem of inconsequential fishing appeals.
• Introduces regulations for fishing tourism and aquaculture.
• It creates a sufficient framework for the parallel production of agricultural products and the operation of photovoltaics on highly productive land.
• It helps the daily life of producers and solves their chronic problems, ensuring their sustainability in general.
• Arranges and streamlines operational, regulatory and legislative issues of all kinds.
• Ensures the improvement of the functioning of organizations.
• Recommends Agricultural Departments in the Chambers, strengthening agricultural entrepreneurship.

The 47 articles that include the bill

The bill consists of 47 articles, which include:

Articles 1 and 2: Purpose and object of the draft law.

Articles 3-7: The rationalization of the use of available natural livestock breeding areas is promoted, through the creation of group and organized animal housing areas, harmonizing with the Union requirements. In this way, the viability of small farms is ensured, the increase in animal productivity to cover the increased needs for livestock products and the improvement of both the quality of the products and the working conditions.

Articles 8-13: Pathogens of times are corrected by streamlining the procedures for examining unique fishing appeals. A special committee is established to examine them from now on and a reasoned decision is guaranteed within 120 days from the date of appeal. At the same time, all past appeals that have accumulated over the years are settled.

Fishing tourism

Articles 14 – 18: Aquaculture issues are settled. Specifically, the operators of aquaculture units are given the possibility to use their professional-auxiliary vessels for the movement of tourists, as long as they will participate in fishing tourism activities at their facilities. The framework for the leasing of aquaculture land is regulated, as are the penalties for late applications. Also, with regard to the Organized Aquaculture Development Areas (OAD), the approval of all the involved management bodies is required for any new use of aquaculture within them. Finally, the period of removal of arbitrary installations is extended from 20 to 60 days, taking into account the unpredictable weather conditions that may prevail.

Articles 19 – 23: Matters for the protection of plant health are regulated, in order to update the cases of non-compliance with plant health legislation that attract the imposition of administrative sanctions, as well as the range of fines. In addition, the procedure for imposing administrative sanctions is determined and the possibility of the affected person to file an appeal against the decision to impose a fine is provided for, as a necessary means of defense.

Articles 24 – 26: The scope of Law 721/1977 is updated, so that it explicitly provides for all types of biocidal products that fall under the competence of the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food, but also for reasons of harmonization with European legislation. In particular, article 30 of the above law, as it applies, mentions types of biocidal products before their official definition through the Regulation of biocides. In addition, some types of biocidal products under the responsibility of the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food, such as antifouling agents, are not clearly listed. In addition to dealing with the above issues, it is possible to apply the provisions of Law 721/1977 to any future types of biocides that fall under the competence of the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food.

Articles 27 – 29: Aiming overall to strengthen the quality of food, the landscape is further clarified regarding unfair commercial practices in the food sector and the provisions that apply to them. A School of Meat Professions is established in Heraklion, Crete, enabling citizens of Crete to train and become certified professionals in the meat sector, without having to travel to Athens, which is the nearest corresponding school. Matters of competence of the General Directorates of Food and Agriculture of the FSAAT are also regulated.

Affected Support

Articles 30 – 32: They refer to the areas of our country affected by fires and floods in recent months. The demanding work of supporting those affected who were temporarily or permanently in a state of emergency due to the fires of July and August 2023, the bad weather “Daniel”, is being completed in a short period of time, while at the same time the work of assessors is being strengthened and restrictions affecting them are lifted, with the aim of speeding up the assessment procedures and the provision of aid to the affected. It is ensured that the compensations reach the beneficiaries in full, without being subject to any detention for any reason, regardless of the obligations of the compensated. The issue of the collection and sanitary burial of dead animals is being addressed.

Articles 33-38: They refer to procedural provisions for strengthening rural development. Specifically, Article 33 ensures the country’s food security by protecting highly productive agricultural land from investments related to the energy sector (agro-photovoltaics). With article 35, groups of producers (legal entities) are given the possibility to install units for the storage and processing of agricultural products on agricultural lands that have been characterized as highly productive. It should be noted that this possibility already exists for individual producers (natural persons). With article 36, a time extension is given to the cooperatives to update their statutes, understanding the health difficulties that have existed in recent years and acted as a deterrent to the realization of the necessary general assemblies. Article 37 defines the scope of responsibility of each control mechanism, covering gaps in the stages of the food production and processing process, thus ensuring the orderly execution of controls at critical points where they are required, harmonizing with the EU guidelines. It is proved by the article 38 in practice, the social face of the YPAAT with the free grant of a plot of land for the construction of a Vocational High School in the Municipality of Neapolis-Sykeon in Thessaloniki. Education is a good that everyone should have access to and it is the duty of the state to provide whatever facility it can for this purpose.

Article 39: The problem of lack of staff of the Recovery Fund Project Management Service (YDETA) of the HYPAAT is solved through the creation of a register of auditors-verifiers, as happens in the majority of services that manage European resources. At the same time, the annual fee limit of advisory committees and control groups is being redefined, increasing the availability of executives, while existing salary differences are still being addressed.

Articles 40 – 43: Contains provisions concerning the organization of the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece. The daily life of the producers of the Aegean is facilitated, as well as the daily operation of the organization itself, with the transfer of the headquarters of the GEOT.EE branch. from Syros to Mytilini, a decision that has already been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of GEOT.E.. Necessary changes are being made to the regulation of GEOT.E.E., with the aim of modernizing it and avoiding the identification of the fields of application of different regulations, resulting in its overall smoother operation.

Articles 44 – 46: The framework for the creation of Agricultural Departments in the Chambers is established, to support farmers. Following the above changes for the introduction of Agricultural Departments in the Chambers, the number of representatives of these departments in the Board of Directors of the Chambers is determined.

Specifically it is provided: In paragraph 3 of article 69 of Law 4497/2017 (A’ 171), on the number of representatives of the Board of Directors of the Chambers, a new second paragraph is added, and paragraph 3 is formulated as follows:

“3. The number of representatives of each department in the Board of Directors is determined by a decision of the Minister of Development, after the opinion of the Board of Directors, based on the following criteria:

a) the number of members of each department, b) their contribution to the local economy and c) the jobs covered by their activity. The number of representatives of the agricultural departments in the Board of Directors, as long as agricultural departments have been established in accordance with article 67, is: a) one (1) for Chambers of para. a) and b) of par. 2, and b) two (2) for the remaining chambers.”

Article 47: Entry into force.