Small Farmer Scheme

1

REGULATION

20.04.2015 No. 35

Small farmer scheme

This Regulation will be established on the basis of § 21(2) of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act and Article 61(1) of the Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 637/2008 and Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, pp. 608-670).

§ 1.Scope of application

This Regulation will establish more specific requirements for obtaining the single area payment, direct payments which will support agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment, payment for young farmers and coupled support (hereinafter small farmer support) and the procedure for applying for the support and processing the applications.

§ 2.Requirements for obtaining the small farmer scheme

(1)Small farmer support can be applied for by natural or legal person or association of persons without legal entity status, which has submitted within the period from 1 August to 15 August 2015 to the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (hereinafterthe ARIB) for participation in the small farmers scheme, an application conforming to the model set out in the Annex or an electronic application via the ARIB e-service environment containing all the data provided for in the Annex.

(2)Applicant for the small farmer support must apply for at least one direct payment
on the basis of the following legislation:

1)the Minister of Rural Affairs Regulation No. 32 “General requirements for obtaining direct payments, single area payment, climate and environmental payment and the payment for young farmers” of 17 April 2015;

2)the Minister of Rural Affairs Regulation No. 33 “Direct payment for growing fruit and vegetables” of 20 April 2015 or

3)the Minister of Rural Affairs Regulation No. 34 “Direct payment for dairy cow and suckler cow breeding and ewe and goat breeding”.

(3)Applicant for the small farmer support must comply with the requirements for obtaining direct payment referred to in clauses 1-3 of subsection 2 for which the application has submitted an application.

(4)Applicant for the small farmer support must not:

1) comply with the requirements established in the Minister of Agriculture Regulation No. 4 “Requirements for keeping land in good agricultural and environmental condition” of 14 January 2015 and the statutory management requirements published pursuant to § 32(2) of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act.

2) follow the agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment established in Articles 43-46 of the Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and in §§ 11-13 of the Minister of Rural Affairs Regulation No. 32 “General requirements for obtaining direct payments, single area payment, climate and environmental payment and the payment for young farmers” of 17 April 2015.

(5) Small farmer support cannot be applied for by the applicant who will waive the participation in the small farmer scheme in 2016 or the years following this year.

§ 3.Applying for small farmer support

Applicant for the small farmer support shall submit to the ARIB an application for each year when the applicant wants to use the small farmer support on the basis of the legislation referred to in clauses 1-3 of § 2(2) by the deadline established in the legislation.

§ 4.Processing of the application

The ARIB shall verify the correctness of data submitted in the application and the compliance thereof with the requirements for obtaining the support pursuant to the provisions of Articles 24-43 of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 809/2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system, rural development measures and cross compliance (OJ L 227, 31.07.2014, pp. 69-124) and clauses 1-3 of § 2(2).

§ 5.Amount of support

(1)The ARIB shall calculate the amount of the small farmer support on the basis of the unit rate for support established in the legislation referred to in clauses 1-3 of § 2(2) by the deadline established in the legislation.

(2)Maximum amount of the small farmer support shall be 1.250 euros.

(3)If the amount of the small farmer support calculated for an applicant exceeds 1.250 euros, the ARIB shall reduce the amount on the basis of the provisions of Article 65(1) of the Regulation (EU) No.1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

§ 6.Approval and dismissal of the application

(1)The ARIB shall make a decision to approve or reject an application for small farmer support by 10 December of the year of the submission of the application.

(2)The ARIB shall make a decision to reject the application for small farmer support on the basis of the provisions of § 22 of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act.

§ 7.Payment of the support

Small farmer support shall be paid by 30 June of the year following the year of the submission of the application referred to in § 3.

§ 8.Waiver of support

(1)In order to waive the participation in the small farmer scheme, the applicant shall indicate in the application to be submitted on the basis of the legislation referred to in clauses 1-3 of § 2(2) that the applicant shall waive the participation in the small farmer scheme.

(2)If no remark has been made in the application mentioned in subsection 1 regarding the waiver of the participation in the small farmer scheme it shall be deemed that the applicant wants to continue to participate in the small farmer scheme.

§ 9.Implementing provisions

(1)In 2015, the ARIB shall calculate the indicative amount of small farmer support on the basis of preliminary unit rate for support provided by the legislation referred to in clauses 1-3 of § 2(2) for each applicant who is applying for the aforementioned direct payment and whose total amount of direct payments shall not exceed 1.500 euros.

(2)The ARIB shall notify the applicant of the indicative amount of small farmer support at the latest on 1 August 2015.

(digitally signed)

UrmasKruuse Minister of Rural Affairs

(digitally signed) Ants Noot

Annex: Application for participation in the small farmer scheme