Accreditation of the Agency for Payments in Agriculture

The decision to grant accreditation to the Agency for Payments in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Development, based on a positive report from an independent auditing firm, was signed today by Minister of Agriculture Tihomir Jakovina and handed over to the director of the agency, Ante Pezo.

This marks the completion of the first phase of the Agency’s accreditation, which guarantees that Croatian farmers will be able to access EU budget support funds through the Agency for Payments, provided they adhere to the prescribed rules, starting from 2013 for direct payments.

The second phase pertains to the accreditation of the Agency’s control and management system relevant for the implementation of the Common Market Organization measures that Croatia will implement starting July 1, 2013, and will be completed by the end of June next year. The third phase relates to rural development measures that will be implemented from 2014 with the beginning of the new programming period, and this phase will be completed by the end of 2013.

The accreditation of the Agency for Payments is a prerequisite for accessing the EU Common Agricultural Policy funds, under which Croatian farmers will have five billion kuna available annually for direct payments and rural development.

Minister Jakovina stated that accreditation is a prerequisite for utilizing generous European funds and that significant and important work has been accomplished.

Within the framework of European funds, over five billion kuna is reserved annually for Croatian farmers, and the funds will be drawn gradually, under strictly defined rules, with nearly 800 million kuna available in the first year, 2013, he said.

The accreditation of the Agency is conditional, meaning that certain instructions and recommendations have been received along with deadlines by which we must implement what is expected for the programming period 2014 to 2020, the minister noted, expressing confidence that we will be ready for everything that lies ahead.

The director of the Agency, Ante Pezo, emphasized that the most demanding first part of the accreditation related to the implementation of direct payment measures has been completed, which means that we are already drawing European funds for Croatian farmers for 2013.

Therefore, a campaign for direct payments is currently being prepared, which will operate under the same conditions as in EU countries starting next year, Pezo said, expressing confidence that the remaining two phases will also be completed within the set deadlines.