And the Chamber of Achaia made a decision to create an Agricultural Department, taking advantage of the possibilities provided by the recent legislative regulation of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the agency’s board of directors, in which the Minister of State for Anti-Terrorism, Lefteris Avgenakis, also participated via video conference from Luxembourg. Both the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the president of the Chamber of Achaia, Platonas Marlafekas, spoke of an important development, which will give producers and professionals in the primary sector access to the benefits of an already organized structure.
However, reading the relevant article of the passed bill, one finds that the Agricultural Departments are not addressed to professional farmers, but to a few companies and cooperatives, i.e. to a very small number of beneficiaries.
Specifically, Law 5087/24 (No. 51) states that, for the creation of an Agricultural Department in the regional chambers, at least 30 agricultural enterprises of all kinds, which are already registered in GEMI or will be registered in it, agricultural cooperatives and groups of producers are required , as well as farmers engaged in both processing activity and processors of primary sector products. This practically translates into the exclusion of professional farmers as natural persons.
Chamber law experts reported to “Peloponnisos” that the new agricultural departments will, in practice, be staffed by the redistribution of existing businesses of members of the Chamber of Achaia from the other three departments and mainly at the expense of Manufacturing which is already weakened.
However, all the relevant details are expected to be clarified by a regulatory circular that the Ministry of Development should issue.
THE PRESSURES
Many believe that the initiative for the establishment of Agricultural Departments, although it started with the aim of registering farmers as natural persons, changed along the way, due to the pressure exerted by the administrations of the chambers who saw a reversal of the balance of power and indeed, before the elections of November. Something like this was hinted at by Mr. Avgenakis at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Chamber, citing the Central Union of Chambers.
BUBBLE
The opposition faction “Chamber for All” with Panagiotis Krikis and the candidate for president Antonis Kounavis spoke of declaring a “bubble”. They see many inaccuracies behind the announcements of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as the law refers to business activity based on GEMI.
Panagiotis Krikis said that in fact the current administrations of the Chambers do not accept farmers by profession because they are afraid of overturning associations.
Antonis Kounavis described the process as a mockery for the farmers, who are left out, although they pay VAT and have a professional activity. “Despite the heavy-handed announcements, the issue is proving to be a free gift for professional farmers who will eventually be left out of the chambers,” he said.
THE CONTRIBUTIONS
It should be noted that with the same law (5087/24) the establishment, operation and management of the Electronic Register of Farmers by the chambers was also established.
The register of farmers will include all, without exception, those professionally employed in the primary sector, it will be managed by the Chambers, but it will belong to YPAAT, it will also have an interface with the MAAE (Register of Farmers and Agricultural Holdings).
However, union farmers do not agree with this perspective. The president of the National Union of Agricultural Cooperatives and the Kalavryta Union, Pavlos Satolias, was clear, speaking to “Peloponnisos” regarding this issue. The cooperatives and the farmers are not going to accept the assignment of the agricultural register to the chambers, because firstly, they suspect that they will be asked to pay some contribution and, secondly, they think that this is an obligation that should be under the control of the state.
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