Procedure for granting direct payments to farmers approved

A reform of direct payments has been implemented since 2015, and the Cabinet of Ministers (Cabinet of Ministers) regulations on the procedure for granting direct payments to farmers set out separate rules for the application of direct payments. The rules for implementing direct payments (DPs) are mainly set out in EU regulations, and the Cabinet of Ministers' regulations only provide for implementation conditions in matters where the regulations provide for a relevant delegation to a member state. Therefore, on Tuesday, March 10, the government approved the Cabinet of Ministers' regulations "Procedure for granting direct payments to farmers".

The regulations provide that by 2020, the single area payment will be implemented, which will provide income support to farmers. From this year, a payment for agricultural practices beneficial to the climate and the environment, or greening payment, will be introduced with the aim of increasing farmers' investment in environmental protection. In 2019, a young farmer payment will be introduced to promote the inclusion of young farmers in the agricultural sector, and a simplified support scheme for small farmers will be introduced. In order to maintain the production of milk, cattle, sheep, goats, certified grass and fodder plant seeds, certified cereal seeds, certified seed potatoes, summer rapeseed, starch potatoes, protein crops, barley, fruit and vegetables, production-related support will be introduced.

For the practice of greening payment crop diversification, a diversification period is set from June 15 to August 31, during which farmers must ensure the crop or its residues on the field - requirements for control purposes, and a procedure for declaring crops is set. The regulations determine what are the protected ecologically sensitive grasslands in Latvia, and the procedure for identifying them. For the implementation of the practice of preserving permanent grasslands, the obligations of farmers are set in a situation where a decrease in the area of permanent grasslands by more than 3 percent will be detected at the national level. For the practice of preserving ecologically significant areas, landscape elements and land use types that are considered ecologically significant areas are set.

In order to receive the young farmer payment, it is stipulated that the payment rate per hectare will be calculated as 25% of the 2019 average national TM level, which will amount to approximately 40 euros. In 2019, the young farmer payment will be granted for the first 90 hectares of the farm. The regulations also regulate the conditions for legal entities to receive this payment.

The Ministry of Agriculture regulations stipulate that support for small farmers in Latvia will be implemented as a farm payment and will be available to farmers who agree to waive the single area payment, greening payment, and production-related support, instead receiving a farm payment of 500 euros annually. In order to receive support for small farmers this year and in future years, a farmer must submit an application to the Rural Support Service by June 9 of this year. The small farmer payment will not be granted to those farmers who have artificially created conditions for obtaining advantages, for example, by creating a farm by dividing another farm into smaller ones.

To maintain production, 13 different production-related support schemes will be introduced, the conditions for granting which are set out in the Cabinet of Ministers' regulations. It is important that one of the conditions for receiving support in any of the farm animal support schemes is that the animal identification and registration requirements have been met, that is, the deadline for submitting notifications about the birth, movement or death of animals has been met, the deadline for marking animals has been met, the animal register on the farm is always updated on site and the animals in the herd are marked with ear tags (if one ear tag is lost, it is possible to identify the animal from the animal register).

The TM regulations also provide for general conditions that apply to any TM scheme. The regulations provide that any TM for an area shall only be granted if the arable land is maintained in a condition suitable for growing crops and its surface is flat and free of shrub shoots older than one year. TM may be received for grassland areas if the grasslands have been grazed or mowed and harvested by 15 August of the current year. A later deadline is provided for protected grasslands, grasslands used for collecting nectar or medicinal plants and grasslands used for seed production. TM may be received for agricultural land only if it is predominantly used for agricultural activities.

Support applicants who have received more than 5,000 euros from the TM in the previous year and who operate in any of the non-agricultural areas of activity specified in the Cabinet of Ministers' regulations will not receive direct payments - this is determined by the condition of an active farmer. The regulations do set criteria, which, if met, will allow a support applicant involved in certain non-agricultural areas to still receive the TM.

The part of the farmer's single area payment that exceeds 150,000 euros will be subject to a 5% payment reduction. When determining the part of the single area payment to which the reduction is applicable, the farmer's current paid wages and labor taxes related to agricultural activity may be deducted from it at the farmer's request. In the case of the aforementioned choice, the farmer will have to ensure separate accounting of employees' working hours for types of agricultural activity, as well as separate accounting of information on the calculation of wages, including the applied wage rate and the actually paid wages in the previous calendar year.

The Ministry of Agriculture regulations provide that in 2015, transitional state support for suckler cows and ewes will also be implemented, as well as the separate transitional state support for areas, arable crop areas and potato starch.

The regulations also provide for conditions of good agricultural and environmental condition and cross-compliance requirements for animal identification and registration, the environment, plant health and animal welfare, if linked to the receipt of direct payments.

In order to receive any of the direct payments, a farmer must submit a single application to the Rural Support Service by May 15 of the current year, the new regulations stipulate. In addition, a farmer whose arable land area is larger than 10 ha must submit a single application electronically, using the Rural Support Service's electronic application system. The exception applies to farmers who wish to join the small farmers support scheme - they will be able to submit a single application by June 9 of this year.

The Regulations “Procedure for granting direct payments to farmers” will enter into force after their publication in the Official Gazette “Latvian Gazette".

You can find out more about the rules here. Cabinet of Ministers on the website.