The IT System implemented at the Payments and Intervention Agency for Agriculture | SIVECO Romania
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The IT System implemented at the Payments and Intervention Agency for Agriculture

RATIONALE

Starting with 2007, Romania benefits from EU funds for agriculture through direct area payments. The direct payments represent the support granted by the European Union to farmers, provided that they submit an area payment request and fulfill the eligibility conditions.

A vital condition the Romanian state had to comply with in order to absorb European Union funds for direct payments was the creation of a system to ensure the rigorous administration and control of the farmers’ payment requests.  This is the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) and its creation, implementation and management is the responsibility of the Payments and Intervention Agency for Agriculture (APIA).

The development, implementation and completion of the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) for agriculture in the set deadlines, through carrying out the IT components, represented an important stage in the process of Romania’s accession to the European Union.

The Payments and Intervention Agency for Agriculture is the institution responsible with managing these funds and with the implementation of the support measures for the Romanian farmers. The Integrated Administration and Control System is subordinated to APIA and manages the aids granted as direct area payments.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT’S COMPONENTS

The software solution for the Payments and Intervention Agency for Agriculture includes 7 basic components, consisting of 12 main modules.

The 7 components are:

1. Farmer registry system is the most centralized database of the organization for the categories of data regarding farmers. Developed entirely by the SIVECO Romania team, firstly as a pilot system (Farmer Registry Speed-Up), it has been subsequently generalized and interfaced with registration of areas in the aid requests.

2. IACS - Integrated Administration and Control System represents the main component for the management and control of payments to farmers in accordance to the Common Agricultural Policy.  It consists of 5 modules:

  • Data Capture Module
  • Administrative Check Module
  • On–the-Spot Check Module, covering the functionalities related to the classical on the-spot check and remote sensing
  • Payment Calculation Module
  • Payment Authorization Module

3. LPIS - Land Parcels Identification System provides the viewing and maintenance of physical blocks (a physical block is the reference parcel). Starting with 2008 Campaign, SIVGIS application is used, an application carried out in collaboration with other companies.

4. The system for the management of Market Regulation schemes (MR) - the system for trade with cereals, wine, poultry and eggs, pork, sugar; the cereal intervention system.

5. The system for the management of rural development measures (RD) - payments for areas with natural handicap (less favored areas), agro-environmental payments.

6. Financial-accounting system - a component of the integrated package SIVECO Applications, performed by SIVECO Romania, ensures the processing of financial-accounting activities in APIA: management of all the relevant documents from all county offices and headquarters; management of EU funds managed through IACS, reporting to EU, own financial-accounting  accounts, statuary reporting both to EU and to Romania.

7. DMS - Document Management System (SIVADOC) - a component carried out by SIVECO Romania, ensuring the documents’ management and bringing APIA significant advantages as compared to a traditional system based on the hardcopy documents.

FUNCTIONALITIES OF THE INTEGRATED INFORMATION SYSTEM

The Integrated information System allows:         

  • Record of farmers, farms and agricultural holdings
  • Taking over the aid requests from the farmers and any area payment aid request
  • Performing both administrative and on-the-spot checks
  • Payments calculation and authorization per farm, including quality control and audit activities
  • Actual performing of payments to farmers
  • Payments registration into accounting - standard accounting procedures based on the income and expenditure accounts
  • Record of geographical and alphanumerical data regarding the areas declared by farmers
  • Printing the maps for farmers, both per physical block and per farmer
  • Management of foreign trade schemes - trade licenses, reimbursements, calculating and issuing guarantees, development of the set of trade licenses, import-export reports
  • Management of the intervention schemes regarding the acquisition, public and private storage and sale, as well as development of functionality changes for sale-purchase tenders
  • Application of milk subsidy schemes in schools within the intervention measures for milk and dairy products
  • Management and monitoring of payments from the national schemes providing financial support
  • Management of advances and guarantees
  • Management and monitoring of debits resulted from the payments from national schemes
  • Management and monitoring of payments from European schemes.

PERSPECTIVES

The IT system developed at APIA aims at adjusting to the new Common Agricultural Policy (PAC) that envisions:

  • Performing direct payments per hectare for farmers in Romania by at least 5% greater starting with 2013
  • A more dynamic labor force employment – the basic payment for income support will be granted only to active farmers. The number of jobs created in holdings will be also taken into account
  • Crisis management - price volatility represents a threat for the long term competitiveness of the agricultural sector. More efficient „safety nets” are proposed, having an increased capacity of reaction for the agricultural sectors that are most exposed to crises
  • Increasing productivity - 30% of the direct payments will be granted for adopting practices allowing the optimal use of natural resources, such as: crop diversification, maintain the permanent pastures, protect the ecological reserve and landscapes
  • Investing in research - doubling the budget allocated to agronomy research and innovation and finding solutions for turning research results into practice through new partnerships for innovation
  • Strengthening the farmer’s position by supporting the producers’ organizations, the inter-professional organizations and development of short producers- consumers’ circuits
  • Ecosystems protection by restoring them and initiating actions for fighting climate change, as well as efficient use of resources
  • Encouraging young farmers – two thirds of the farmers are over 55 years old. To support job creation and to encourage young generations to get involved in the agricultural sector, we propose creating a new installation aid that the farmers younger than 40 should benefit of, during the first 5 years of the project
  • Employment in rural areas – a series of measures for stimulating the economic activity in rural areas and for encouraging the local development initiatives are proposed
  • Protection of fragile / sensitive areas – to avoid desertification and to protect the richness of our territory, the member states are provided with the possibility to better support the farmers in less favored areas by means of an additional subsidy (allowance)
  • Simplifying the norms regarding the conditionality and the control systems. The aid granted to small farmers will be simplified, a lump sum amounting to 500-1,000 EUR per farmer per year will be set for them. The land transfer from small farmers terminating their agricultural activity to other holdings willing to develop the farms will be encouraged.

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