Investments in the processing, marketing and/or development of agricultural products

Investments in the processing, marketing and/or development of agricultural products - The program

The Calls for Expressions of Interest for the submission of support applications for Investments in the processing, marketing and/or development of agricultural products (Measure 4.2) of the "AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF GREECE 2014 - 2020" Program have been published.

In particular, the 1st Call for Expression of Interest for Action 4.2.1: "Processing, marketing or development of agricultural products with a final product within Annex I of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (agricultural product) was published, as well as the 1st Call for Expression of Interest for Action 4.2.2: "Processing, marketing or development of agricultural products with a final product outside Annex I of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (non-agricultural product). The call for Action 4.2.3 is also expected within the next few days.

Measure 4.2 is addressed to companies active in the processing, marketing and development of agricultural products, and aims, among other things, to increase the added value of these products by making them more attractive to the consumer, to the integration of innovation processes and the use of new technologies, as well as environmentally friendly processes environment, which limit the phenomenon of climate change, to preserve and create jobs as well as to protect human health and to facilitate the integration of professional farmers in processing, in order to increase their income on the one hand and to provide products with high added value on the other.

Reinforced actions:
The Measure consists of the following actions:

a) ACTION 4.2.1 Processing, marketing or development with a final product within Annex I (agricultural product)

In the context of this Action, applications for support from manufacturing companies which are active in the production of products within Annex I of the Treaty with the utilization of raw material within Annex I of the Treaty are strengthened.

b) ACTION 4.2.2 Processing, marketing or development of agricultural products with a final product outside Annex I (Non-agricultural product)

In the context of this Action, applications for support from manufacturing companies that are active in the production of products outside Annex I of the Treaty (non-agricultural product) with the utilization of raw material within Annex I of the Treaty are strengthened.

c) ACTION 4.2.3 Processing, marketing and/or development of agricultural products by professional farmers.

In the context of this Action, applications for support from professional farmers, who are active in the production of products inside or outside Annex I of the Treaty, using raw material within Annex I of the Treaty, are strengthened.

Beneficiaries

The eligible beneficiaries per action are defined as follows:

a) Action 4.2.1 Processing, marketing and development with a final product within Annex I (agricultural product)

In the context of Action 4.2.1, Very Small, Small and Medium enterprises within the meaning of the Commission's recommendation 2003/361/EC, as well as large enterprises, are supported. Any form of business that has an obligation to keep B' or C' category books is eligible, with the exception of businesses that operate in the form of a society, a civil law company and a joint venture.

b) Action 4.2.2 Processing, marketing and development with a final product other than Annex I (non-agricultural product)

In the framework of Action 4.2.2, Micro, Small and Medium enterprises are supported in the sense of the Commission's recommendation 2003/361/EC. Any form of business that has an obligation to keep B' or C' category books is eligible, with the exception of businesses that operate in the form of a society, a civil law company and a joint venture.

c) Action 4.2.3 Processing, marketing and development of agricultural products by professional farmers

In the context of Action 4.2.3. professional farmers are supported, as they are defined under Law 3874/2010 as applicable each time.

Sectors eligible for support
The eligible sectors for support under each Action are as follows:;

• Action 4.2.1 Processing, marketing or development with a final product within Annex I (agricultural product).
  The sectors strengthened under action 4.2.1 are:

a) Meat - poultry - rabbits (excluding slaughterhouses which are eligible only in island areas and for a capacity of up to 400 tons and poultry slaughterhouse establishments which are only eligible in mountainous or island areas)

b) Milk

c) Eggs

d) Sericulture - beekeeping - snail farming - various animals

e) Animal feed

f) Cereals

g) Oil Products (excluding olive oil mill establishments)

h) Wine

i) Fruit and vegetables, nuts, nuts

j) Flowers (indicative: standardization and marketing of flowers)

k) Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

l) Seeds and Propagation Material

m) Vinegar (indicative: production of vinegar from wine, fruit and other agricultural raw materials)

• Action 4.2.2 Processing, marketing or development with a final product other than Annex I (non-agricultural product)
  The sectors strengthened under action 4.2.2 are:

a) Processing tobacco for the production of cigars or cigarillos

b) Brewery

c) Processing of hive products (pollen, propolis, royal jelly)

d) Essential oil production units

e) Kernel plants

f) Units for the production of spirits from fruit and vegetables or of grapevine origin

g) Agricultural products processing units for the production of cosmetics and food products (such as mastic products, donkey milk products)

h) Production units for the marketing and packaging of plant nutrition products

i) Units for the production of rennet and its concentrates

j) Utilization of by-products, residues and industrial food waste

k) Production of cotton and other textile fibers

l) Hemp and flax fiber processing plants

Important Notes:

1.  The bodies applying for aid for the processing of a product of Annex I of the TFEU (agricultural product) into a product outside of Annex I (non-agricultural), should be active or wish to be active in the first processing of the agricultural product and make use of this product as a raw material that will further process it, resulting in a final non-Annex I product.
2.  In case they do not already have the infrastructure for the first processing of the agricultural product used as raw material, they can apply for it in the context of the submitted investment plan, so that at least a percentage of the processed product used as raw material in the context of the second processing , to be produced by the beneficiary.
3.  In case the potential beneficiary already has the infrastructure for the first processing of the agricultural product, the investment plan submitted for aid may contain costs related to both the first and second processing or costs related only to the second processing of this product.

• Action 4.2.3 Processing, marketing and development of agricultural products by professional farmers.

The sectors that are strengthened under action 4.2.3 are:

a) Meat – poultry – rabbits (excluding slaughterhouses which are eligible only in island areas and for a capacity of up to 400 volumes and poultry slaughterhouse establishments which are only eligible in mountainous or island areas)

b) Milk

c) Eggs

d) Sericulture - snails

e) Animal feed

f) Cereals

g) Oil products (excluding oil mill establishments)

h) Flowers

i) Seeds and Propagation Material

j) Wine - Viticulture

k) Fruit and vegetables, nuts, nuts

l) Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

m) Vinegar (indicative: production of vinegar from wine, fruit and other agricultural raw materials)

n) Honey and processing of beehive products.

Establishments, modernizations, expansions, and relocations of production units and storage areas, mergers of units, by-product management units are strengthened in the above sectors, according to the Appendix of Decision No. 593/37447/4.4.2017, taking into account financing through the Common Market Organization by sector and from other financial instruments.

Program budget

The sub-measure is co-financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the state budget, support is provided in the form of a grant and may be combined with financial instruments. An advance may be granted in accordance with par. 4 of article 45 of Regulation 1305/2013.

The public Reinforcement of the 1st call of Action 4.2.1 amounts to €120,000,000 and of Action 4.2.2 to €30,000,000.

Eligible investment project budget:

Action 4.2.1: €600,000 – €5,000,000

Action 4.2.2: €600,000 – €3,000,000

Action 4.2.3: €50,000 – €300,000

The investment budget limits concern both the requested and the eligible budget of the support applications, i.e. the project budget, as determined after the evaluation of the application. Projects with an eligible budget outside the limits of the Action they applied for are rejected and if they wish to join one of the above Actions, they must submit a new application in the next call.

For sub-measure 4.2, the first payment request corresponds to at least 25% of the eligible budget of the operation. The interim payment requests and the final payment request correspond to a minimum of 20% of the eligible budget of the operation. The number of payment requests that the beneficiary can submit is determined in the decision to include the act in the sub-measure, depends on the amount of the act's budget and cannot exceed four (4) applications per act.

The maximum amount of the advance that the beneficiaries have the right to request after the inclusion of their act, amounts to a percentage of 50% of the public aid remaining for the completion of the act

The potential beneficiaries of Action 4.2.3, who have also submitted an application within the framework of Action 4.1, may submit an investment plan with a maximum investment amount (total budget) cumulatively for Measure 4.1 and Action 4.2.3 up to €500,000.

Amount of subsidy

A. For Action 4.2.1:

• Western Greece, Thessaly, Epirus, Central Macedonia, Eastern Macedonia-Thrace, Ionian Islands, Peloponnese, Crete: 50%
• Small Aegean Islands (North Aegean, South Aegean): 75%
• Attica, Central Greece, Western Macedonia: 40%

The percentages corresponding to the above categorization of the Regions are increased once by 20 percentage points, provided that the maximum combined support does not exceed 90%, in the case of actions linked to mergers of producer organizations under action 4.2.1.

Mergers of producers that wish to be supported within the framework of this Action and at the same time have been supported by another program as a merger of a group of producers, submit a relevant decision with their funding rate in order to correctly calculate the funding rate they will receive from the EAFRD.

B. For Action 4.2.2:

•  Eastern Macedonia-Thrace, Central Macedonia, Thessaly, Epirus, Western Greece, Peloponnese, Northern Aegean

1. Medium: 45%
2. Small & micro businesses: 50%

• Crete, Ionian Islands

1. Medium: 35%
2. Small & micro businesses: 45%

• Western Macedonia, Central Greece

1. Medium: 35%
2. Small & micro businesses: 40%

•  Western Attica, Piraeus - Islands

1. Medium: 30%
2. Small & micro businesses: 40%

• Athens North Sector, Athens West Sector, Athens Central Sector, Athens South Sector, East Attica

1. Medium: 20%
2. Small & micro businesses: 30%

C. For Action 4.2.3
When the final product is outside Annex I of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (non-agricultural product), it is defined as follows:

a) for projects with a total budget of up to €300,000, the aid is granted based on Regulation (EU) 1407/2013 (de minimis). The aid rate amounts to 65% of the eligible costs of the support application.

b) for projects above €300,000, the aid will be granted based on Article 44 of Reg. (EU) 702/2014 and according to the categorization of the regions in the regional map approved by the EU in force, as applicable each time.

• When the final product is within Annex I of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, it is configured up to 75%, depending on the categorization of the Regions as follows:
• Small Aegean Islands (Excluding Crete and Evia): 75%
• Less Developed Regions: 50%
• Other Areas: 40%

or falls within the limitations of Regulation (EU) 1407/2013 (de minimis) and amounts to 65% of the eligible costs of the support application

Subsidized expenses

In the framework of the Actions of sub-measure 4.2, costs related to the following categories are supported:

• Construction or improvement of building infrastructure, acquisition or improvement of real estate, where land areas are eligible only when they do not exceed 10% of the total cost of the investment. For abandoned and former industrial sites that include buildings, this limit increases to 15%.
• Configuring the environment to serve the needs of the unit.
• Purchase, transport and installation of equipment. These costs include laboratory equipment to the extent that it serves the operation of the unit, equipment for the production of energy from renewable energy sources, water conservation and waste treatment, not as an individual action but as part of the overall production investment.

Purchase of new vehicles, namely:
– Vehicles transporting special types of products which, according to national legislation, are considered necessary for the operation of the investment in order to ensure the quality and hygiene of the product (applies to the raw material and the produced product/by-product).

Examples include: trucks - silos for the transport of bulk flour, isothermal tanks necessary for the transport of milk to the standardization - processing area, tanker cars for the transport of oil kernels and liquid waste from olive mills and their dispersion on agricultural land, refrigerators exclusively for wholesale products, vehicles for the transport of of animal by-products to the hibernation units, with specifications in accordance with the current legislation (Reg. (EC) 1069/2009 and Reg. (EC) 142/2011), in the context of the action regarding the establishment and modernization of slaughter by-products hibernation units.

In the framework of this action, only vehicles that will be approved for the transport of (Animal By-Products) ZYP category 1 will be subsidized whose owners will undertake the obligation to collect the dead animals from farms belonging to the geographical coverage area for which they will be committed, in order to manage them in their business. The amount of expenditure for the purchase of special type vehicles cannot exceed 10% of the investment plan budget.

– Means of internal transport that meet the needs of the investment (such as forklifts, forklifts).

• Obtaining quality assurance certificates from competent organizations (such as ISO, HACCP, BRC Global Standards, IFS Food Standard, GLOBALG.A.P.), which are applied to all stages of the food chain, from the field to the shelf and ensure the consumer the quality and safety of the food he consumes.
• Business equipment expenses (such as purchase of fax, telephone facilities, intercom networks, computers and peripherals, photocopiers, facility security systems, facility fire protection systems).
• General costs associated with plant facilities and equipment, such as architect, engineer and consultant fees, fees for advice on environmental and economic viability, including costs for feasibility studies.
• Intangible costs such as acquisition or development of software and acquisitions of patents, licenses, intellectual property rights, trademarks, creating a recognizable mark (label) of the product, market research to shape the image of the product (packaging, marking).

Important dates

The submission of electronic support applications and nomination files to SAIS for the 1st Call of Action 4.2.1 begins on May 16, 2017 and ends on August 18, 2017 at 3:00 p.m.

The submission of electronic support applications and nomination files to SAIS for the 1st Call of Action 4.2.2 begins on July 13, 2017 and ends on October 12, 2017.