In his presentation, Chairman of the Rural Affairs Committee Urmas Kruuse said that Estonia’s agriculture and food production have undergone significant development since joining the European Union, which is evidenced by both the growth of production volumes and the technical capabilities of the sector. “If we compare the beginning of 2000 to the present day, the production of cereals, legumes, and oil crops has increased by 157 percent, and milk production by 54 percent,” Kruuse said, stressing the work done by farmers and breeders.

According to him, today’s discussion has been prompted by the changing international and European Union political environment and the approaching post-2028 financial period. Kruuse pointed out that Estonia’s agricultural subsidies had risen from about 25 percent of the European Union average to over 80 percent. However, the next step in improving competitiveness requires investments. “Statistics demonstrate that Estonian farmers earn less profit from the market than their colleagues elsewhere in Europe, and this does not have to stay that way,” he said.

As an important topic, Kruuse addressed food security and self-sufficiency, which had become particularly prominent in the context of both the COVID crisis and the war in Ukraine. He noted that although Estonia was self-sufficient in several sectors, crises had demonstrated the vulnerability of supply chains and production. “The important thing is not some mysterious self-sufficiency figure but knowing our level of consumption and our actual capacity to produce,” he stressed.

Chairman of the Rural Affairs Committee said that, hopefully, today’s discussion would provide direction for future decisions, but serious debates awaited once the actual funding possibilities of the European Union’s next financial period were known. He stressed that there was consensus in the Rural Affairs Committee that the funds intended for agriculture had to remain within the sector.

According to Kruuse, for a country with a small internal market like Estonia, export orientation and a greater processing of raw materials in cooperation with the food industry are inevitable. He stressed that the future of agriculture depended on the ability to use new tools and directions: “The question is whether we are rich enough to leave even one blade of grass unused, or smart enough to add value to it and to use it to create our wealth.”

At the beginning of his presentation, Head of Agricultural Policy of the Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce Ants-Hannes Viira stressed that the core of the discussion lay in the choices made: decisions would determine whether the production and food security capacity became stronger or weaker.

Viira’s main message was that Estonia could not fully supply itself with food, and this situation could worsen as Estonia had imported food for years. He pointed out that although competitive sectors (dairy, beef, cereals, and oil crops) in total generated a significant net export, self-sufficiency in several everyday product categories (e.g. meat, eggs, and vegetables) was low and imports, according to his estimates, amounted to ca one billion euros per year. “In other words, we give a total of 500 million euros per year to other countries, to companies abroad, just to have enough food,” he said. According to Viira, the situation does not have to remain this way, as Estonia is in a relatively good position in terms of agricultural land resources, but it uses this potential with too low productivity.

As a solution, Ants-Hannes Viira stressed the role of productivity, the processing industry, and investments: “Our productivity per hectare is low.” He directly linked the poor performance to a gap in capital and investments. He explained that the food industry “doubled the value of agricultural produce”. However, according to his examples, Estonia’s multiplier lagged behind that of many other countries. At the same time, according to his calculations, if we reached, for example, Finnish levels of productivity and value addition, the sector would gain considerable extra sales revenue.

Viira warned that unless policy choices of the following period boosted investments, Estonia would, at best, remain at its current level, while dependence on imports would grow in several sectors.

In terms of funding, Viira directly linked the future of the sector to the decisions on the EU’s following budget period and to the agri-prosperity gap funding, stressing that without this component, support levels would drop dramatically, and it would hit companies’ income and investment capacity hard.

Viira listed several specific investment needs, from animal welfare requirements and building new farms to greenhouse complexes in horticulture, storage and processing, grain processing, biogas and nutrient recycling, and the automation of the processing industry. He concluded his presentation by calling for the income gap funds allocated for agriculture (546 million euros, including co-financing) to be invested in the agricultural and food sector.

At the beginning of his presentation, Member of the Management Board of Sadala Agro Ltd Ahti Kalde said that Estonia’s food security directly depended on the viability of its agriculture and food industry. He noted that agriculture and food industry accounted for about 15 percent of Estonia’s goods exports, but in several categories dependence on imports was high.

Kalde pointed out Estonia’s self-sufficiency gaps: the amount of meat produced is around one third lower than consumption, eggs cover about half of demand, vegetables about a third, and potatoes just over half of the required amount. In this context, he gave the following assessment: “It means that a substantial part of our food supplies comes from other countries’ contributions, from their exports to us, and, in my view, this is not normal.”

Kalde described the reality for enterprises: constant investments and new technologies are inevitable, but requirements are growing faster than enterprises’ capacities. “You could even say that at times you feel you are no longer a food producer but an administrative company, managing various requirements that must be met in order to be able to produce food,” he said. Kalde pointed out that both the international and domestic markets simultaneously expected low prices and high product quality.

In the context of the European Union’s next budget period, Kalde stressed the importance of political decisions, as the EU support under consideration was not automatically allocated to agriculture. He called on legislators for rapid adaptability and linked the funding issue to the national goal of investing in Estonia’s food security.

In conclusion, Kalde said: “If the Riigikogu and the Government view agriculture and food production as a strategic sector in terms of ensuring Estonia’s national security, if the answer is yes, then mere declarations will not suffice; decisions are needed that will enable agricultural sectors to realise their full potential.”

Randel Veerits, Member of the Management Board of Hexest Materials Ltd, introduced himself as a developer of industrial projects. In his presentation, he gave examples including a plywood factory near Jõgeva, the launch of the Paide cheese factory, and an explosives industry project. “So, Estonia, Estonia, Estonia – these have been my last three projects: refining Estonian timber, processing Estonian milk, and today’s defence sector, that is, strengthening our defence capability,” Veerits said.

He stressed that in developing industry, it was reasonable to rely on domestic resources (forests, agriculture, dairy) and to increase value added.

According to Veerits, the common denominator of international projects was the harsh reality of negotiations and the need to mitigate risks through contracts. “That actually means – excuse my choice of words – a struggle from start to finish,” he described cooperation with large producers. He added, that in such projects, a permanent team needed to be built already during the construction of the factory, so that after handover they would be capable of running it independently.

Veerits linked increased productivity to automation and data-driven management: automation creates a constant data repositary and enables process optimisation. “And now, speaking of the fact that automation can add up to 30 percent of efficiency to industry, one can say that if you are also able to integrate AI into the process, you can gain an additional 15 percent of efficiency,” he said.

Veerits aligned defence capability with food security, highlighting the regional impact of industry. “If you have a powerful cannon with explosives, but people have no food, then we will not last long,” said Veerits. He called for speeding up knowledge transfer and pilot projects to enhance cooperation between enterprises and the state.

Lauri Laats from the Estonian Centre Party Group; Maido Ruusmann from the Reform Party Group; Anti Allas from the Social Democratic Party Group; Arvo Aller from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, and Toomas Uibo from the Eesti 200 Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate that followed the reports. Jaanus Karilaid took the floor on behalf of Isamaa Parliamentary Group. Peeter Ernits and Anti Poolamets also took the floor.

The sitting ended at 1.28 p.m.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Photos (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)

Video recording will be available on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.

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A social conditionality system will be established for farms and farmers which will link area- and animal-based payments to the compliance with the working and employment conditions and employer obligations. Amendments will also be made in the measures for the common organisation of the markets in agricultural products that concern school schemes, quality and composition requirements, and the implementation of marketing standards. In the future, the Minister will be able to establish the more specific conditions for granting school scheme aid by a regulation.

The Bill also provides for measures to strengthen the protection of geographical indications.

Arvo Aller and Rain Epler from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Urmas Kruuse from the Estonian Reform Party Group and Aivar Kokk from Isamaa Parliamentary Group took the floor during the debate.

The Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction moved to suspend the second reading of the Bill. 18 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 49 were against. Thus, the motion was not supported, and the second reading was concluded.

Riigikogu rejected a draft Resolution

The Riigikogu rejected the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a Proposal to the Government of the Republic to procure EUR 1.6 billion worth of ammunition in 2025–2028” (540 OE),  submitted by Isamaa Parliamentary Group. It was intended to make a proposal to the Government to procure at least EUR 1.6 billion worth of ammunition by 2028. As a motivation, the authors of the draft referred to the need to organize the military defence of Estonia and the advice of the commanders of the Estonian Defence Forces to acquire the essential amount of ammunition.

The draft Resolution was also intended to make a proposal to the Government to hold negotiations with the European Commission to use part of the 2021–2027 funds earmarked for Estonia in the multi-annual budgetary plan of the European Union and the proceeds from pollution trading for one-off national defence investments. It was also intended to propose that a national defence loan through the issuance of national defence bonds could be considered to finance the implementation of the ammunition procurement plan.

During the debate, Raimond Kaljulaid took the floor on behalf of the Social Democratic Party Group, Anti Poolamets on behalf of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, Kalev Stoicescu on behalf of Estonia 200 Parliamentary Group, Priit Sibul on behalf of Isamaa Parliamentary Group and Kristo Enn Vaga on behalf of the Estonian Reform Party Parliamentary Group.

In the vote, 20 members of the Riigikogu supported the passing of the draft Resolution. A majority vote of the membership of the Riigikogu would have been needed for the draft Resolution to be passed.

The deliberation of a Bill was adjourned

Due to the end of the working hours of the plenary sitting, the first reading of the Bill on the Repeal of the Motor Vehicle Tax Act (538 SE), initiated by Isamaa Parliamentary Group, was adjourned and will continue at tomorrow’s sitting. The Bill is intended to repeal the Motor Vehicle Tax Act that was passed on 29 July last year and entered into force on 1 January this year.

The first reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Value-Added Tax Act (539 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group, was also transferred to the agenda for the sitting on Wednesday due to the end of the working hours of the sitting.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.

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The Estonian and English medium courses of the University regularly provide training to 30–35 students each, and yet the number of graduates is clearly much smaller and no longer covers the need for professionals. He sees one reason in the outdated salary, which is around EUR 1,770 per month according to the Ministry of Education and Research.

The profession is one of the seven regulated by the European Union that require a specific qualification. “It is not one where you can enter the labour market via another profession and still ensure high quality services. This is a unique regulated curriculum that helps to ensure public health in more broad terms,” he said. The parliament and the government hope to analyse the issue together and find solutions.

The President of the Estonian Veterinary Association Valdeko Paavel told the Riigikogu that access to veterinary care both for smaller and bigger animals has not been self-evident for a long time now. He estimates the number of dogs in Estonia to around 235,000 and the number of cats to 300,000; other pets include rabbits, hamsters, ferrets, various reptiles, but also alpacas, llamas, and camels. “Over 50,000 bee colonies need the attention of veterinarians, as do millions of birds, over 240,000 heads of cattle in country farms, and so forth. We are talking about hundreds of thousands or even millions of living beings. Consequently, there is also a big number of animal keepers,” he said.

827 veterinary licences have been issued in Estonia, but nearly 10 percent of the licenced veterinarians do not practice in their field. There is a shortage of 80–100 vets in small animal care and 40–50 vets in agricultural animal care, and the trend of filling the positions tends to be negative as the average age of the vets is rapidly increasing. “Labour market is soon to lose the large graduate groups from the Soviet era, when around 100 students enrolled to the course every year. Today, there is only a quarter of that number in the Estonian medium course.” He added that in 5–10 years, there would be a shortage of 200 vets in Estonia.

The low salary level of the public sector is no competition for the salaries in the private sector, and yet there is a shortage even there. “People with veterinary education are needed today and tomorrow in farms, small animal clinics, state authorities, pharmaceutical industry, but also most definitely in universities, both in the clinical branch as well as in the future of research,” he said.

Paavel noted that Estonian medium veterinary education is a strategic and fundamental issue. “It is high time to increase the number of publicly funded places in veterinary education if we do not want to face a situation where the consequences reach much further than the profession itself, affecting the interests of our environment and society as well as our daily wellbeing, diet, and health,” he said, adding that veterinary education must be well funded and the University must be able to ensure training for the sufficient number of veterinarians.

The Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce Ants Noot spoke about the impossibility of producing food and engaging in agriculture without vets. The agricultural land coverage and the number of animals has decreased quite rapidly in Estonia and agricultural businesses have struggled quite a lot from the lack of educated specialists, but also because the economic outlook is not encouraging.

Noot feels that the easiest solution would be to increase state funding, but consideration should also be given to introducing paid education in the Estonian medium. He also stressed the importance of involving agricultural businesses who would be willing to offer further support to graduates. “A couple of simple considerations would be helpful, such as making scholarships tax-free. I am sure that this would make businesses more willing to pay such scholarships,” Noot said, adding that we should also review the system for study allowances and loans, supporting single investments more than has been done so far.

The Rector of the Estonian University of Life Sciences Ülle Jaakma told the Riigikogu that the number of places in veterinary education must definitely increase, even if it happened at the expense of downsizing English medium courses; however, this is not possible without additional financing. “As Ants Noot already said, it is important to find ways for involving private funds to expand the opportunities, such as allowing businesses to cover the expenses of study places,” she proposed.

Jaakma also feels that modernising the clinical basis for veterinary education would help. Developing the experimental farm of clinics is currently up to the University because there is no health insurance system for animals and there are also no instruments to allow applying for support for this. “Consequently, we could maybe consider creating such an instrument, such an option, from the Structural Funds, for example,” she said.

Her third recommendation was to review the system of public study allowances to allow motivated students to focus on their studies. “I think that students in veterinary and agricultural fields are worthy of a specialist scholarship, considering how important these fields are in ensuring national food security,” Jaakma said. “Fourthly, we need to develop a refresher training system to bring back the vets who have at some point left the profession.”

Supporting veterinarian education requires the good will and cooperation of various parties. “From the point of view of the university, the primary condition for change is the implementation of the agreed funding in the coalition agreement and government action plan, which would help to overcome the large shortage that has developed over time; by applying different proposals from then on and combining complementary measures, it would indeed be possible to increase places in veterinarian education. These are not decisions that we can sit on because its takes at least six years for the results to materialise,” she said.

During the debate, Arvo Aller (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Tiit Maran (Social Democratic Party), Mait Klaassen and Urmas Kruuse (Reform Party), Toomas Uibo (Estonia 200), and Priit Sibul (Isamaa) took the floor on behalf of their political groups.

Photos (author: Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

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Kruuse pointed out that the food producers are constantly increasing their efficiency, while at the same time the trade sector is busy expanding and staying open 24/7. “This raises the question who pays for all this – it seems inevitable that in the end it will be felt by the consumer in their grocery shopping cart,” he added.

Director of the Estonian Institute of Economic Research Peeter Raudsepp and Head of the Agricultural Policy Department of the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture Kristel Maidre participated in the sitting of the Rural Affairs Committee.

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Deputy Chairman of the Rural Affairs Committee Rene Kokk considers it necessary that the Government should give clear guidelines to the Tax and Customs Board and negotiate with financial institutions about extending the payment period of taxes, grant interest relief on tax payments for a certain period and facilitate loan terms. “If the Government decides that currently there is a crisis in the sector, and there clearly is in the agriculture sector, then it is a clear guideline for these agencies and a message to the sector that the state has recognised the nature of the problem,” Kokk said.

It was agreed at the Committee sitting that in order to ensure the sustainability of agriculture, it is necessary to add the state assistance to the aid package provided by the European Union.

Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas and representatives of the Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce and the Estonian Farmers’ Federation participated in the sitting of the Rural Affairs Committee.

Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas agreed that it was necessary to support the sector and he hopes that explanations about potential measures will come in August.

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The remaining seven unfair trading practices are prohibited unless they have been previously agreed in clear and unambiguous terms. For example, if the supply contract includes no written agreement on covering the cost of discount of an agricultural product or food, demanding compensation for such costs from the seller is considered an unfair trade practice. Such transactions do not give rise to any legal consequences and are void from their inception.

Supervision over trade practices will fall in the remit of the Competition Authority. The Competition Authority will also have to publish a relevant report and, by 15 March every year, submit to the European Commission an overview on the application of the requirements of the Act and on the ensurance of compliance therewith.

Liability is also provided for infringement of the prohibition on unfair trading practices. A fine of up to EUR 1,200 or detention is provided for natural persons and a fine of up to EUR 400,000 for legal persons.

The aim of the Act is to protect suppliers of agricultural and food products against unfair trading practices by buyers. The Act transposes the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain.

During the debate, Ivari Padar (Social Democratic Party) and Aivar Kokk (Isamaa) took the floor.

90 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the passing of the Act and one was against.

A Bill passed the second reading

Under the Bill on Amendments to the Restrictions on Acquisition of Immovables Act (365 SE), initiated by the Government, state foundations established to support enterprise in rural areas will be included in the list of persons connected with the state in respect of whom the restrictions on the acquisition of agricultural land and forest land are not applied. As a result of the amendment, such foundations will no longer need to apply for authorisation from the municipal council before buying land. The aim is to reduce bureaucracy, in order to better support agricultural producers and rural businesses who are facing difficulties due to the crisis.

Under the Bill, citizens of the United Kingdom and legal persons whose seat is in the United Kingdom will continue to be exempt from the application of the restrictions arising from national defence reasons in the event of acquisition of immovables.

During the debate, Eduard Odinets (Social Democratic Party), Mihhail Stalnuhhin (Centre Party) and Riho Breivel (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.

The Social Democratic Party Faction moved to suspend the second reading of the Bill. Nine members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 70 voted against. Thus, the motion was not supported and the second reading of the Bill was concluded.

A draft Resolution passed the first reading

The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Appointment of a Member to the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group Monitoring the Activities of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation” (405 OE), submitted by the Legal Affairs Committee, provides for the appointment of Urve Tiidus as a member of the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group monitoring the activities of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation.

By its earlier Resolution, the Riigikogu appointed Uno Kaskpeit and Kalle Laanet as members of the scrutiny group. In connection with the suspension of the mandate of Member of the Riigikogu Kalle Laanet due to his appointment as a member of the Government, the Legal Affairs Committee made a proposal to appoint Member of the Riigikogu Urve Tiidus as a member of the scrutiny group to replace Kalle Laanet.

Based on the relevant Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council, the scrutiny of Europol’s activities is carried out by the European Parliament together with national parliaments. This constitutes a specialised Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group (JPSG) established together by the EU national parliaments and the competent committee of the European Parliament. The main task of the JPSG is to politically monitor Europol’s activities in fulfilling its mission, including as regards the impact of those activities on the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons.

A Bill was dropped from the proceedings

The Bill on Amendments to the Penal Code (373 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction, was intended to establish three-to-twelve-year imprisonment for natural persons, and a pecuniary punishment or compulsory dissolution for legal persons, as a punishment for forced vaccination.

During the debate, Tiiu Aro (Reform Party), Viktor Vassiljev (Centre Party), Mihhail Lotman (Isamaa) and Mart Helme (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.

The lead committee moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 51 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 18 voted against. Thus, the motion was supported and the Bill was dropped from the legislative proceedings.

The first reading of a draft Resolution was adjourned due to the end of the sitting

The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Riigikogu Committee of Investigation to Ascertain the Legality and Proportionality of the Police Operation in the City Centre of Tallinn in April 2021” (379 OE), submitted by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction, provides for the formation of a Riigikogu committee of investigation to ascertain the legality and proportionality of the conduct of the Police and Border Guard Board and other power structures in order to preclude arbitrary and unlawful restriction of constitutional civil liberties.

Due to the end of the working hours of the sitting, the following was postponed to tomorrow’s sitting

The first reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Status of Members of the Riigikogu Act (396 SE), initiated by the Social Democratic Party Faction and Member of the Riigikogu Raimond Kaljulaid.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

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Certain provisions of the Fisheries Market Organisation Act are also amended. The need to amend them has emerged from the current experience of implementation of EMFF and this will enable to reduce administrative burden upon implementation of EMFF.

At the same time, the Act is amended by adding provisions that enable, upon grant of state aid to fisheries, de minimis aid to fisheries and other aid to fisheries, to approve conforming applications within the limits of the budget funds earmarked for granting this category of aid in a situation where the amounts applied for in the applications exceed the funds earmarked for that.

94 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act.

The Riigikogu passed another Act

The Act on Amendments to the Maritime Safety Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (284 SE), initiated by the Government, amends several maritime regulations and brings the Act into conformity with the requirements of European Union legislation and international conventions.

The Act ensures the conformity of the Maritime Safety Act and the Acts relating to it to the European Union and international maritime law. The coherence, understandability and legal clarity of Acts is also ensured. The main impacts arising from the amendments concern the relevant state authorities.

During the debate, Annely Akkermann (Reform Party) took the floor.

91 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act.

Four Bills passed the first reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Financial Supervision Authority of Act (380 SE), initiated by the Finance Committee.

The Bill will extend the bases for publishing information relating to state financial supervision and will include in the Financial Supervision Authority Act a legal basis for publishing warning notices. The Bill will enable the Financial Supervision Authority to publish warning notices and to warn the public against activities that are not in conformity with requirements and against relevant suspicions in the field of financial supervision.

The explanatory memorandum notes that the notices will enable to provide the Estonian public early information on risks relating to the financial sector and to inform consumers of grounded threats in the field of financial supervision. Considering the ever-growing financial services market and the entry into market of new kinds of services, there is an ever-growing likelihood that financial services and products are “advertised” to the public the provision or offering of which may require authorisation from the Financial Supervision Authority while the person offering the relevant service or product does not have it. In such cases, it is very important that the Financial Supervision Authority also have the possibility to inform or warn the public of this immediately.

The Bill on Amendments to the Penal Code (348 SE), initiated by the Social Democratic Party Faction and Member of the Riigikogu Raimond Kaljulaid.

The Bill will raise the age-limit for sexual self-determination to 16 years in order to protect minors against abuse. At present, the age limit is 14 years in Estonia, which means that sexual relationships of young people of 14 years of age and over with adults are not in any way regulated by Estonian laws.

The explanatory memorandum notes that, at the same time, the existence of a legal age-limit for starting sexual life or the establishment of such an age-limit by the state does not concern consensual sexual relationships between teenagers but sexual abuse of teenagers by adults.

During the debate, Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski (Centre Party), Riina Sikkut (Social Democratic Party) and Henn Põlluaas (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.

The Bill on Amendments to the Rural Development and Agricultural Market Regulation Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (309 SE), initiated by the Government. The Bill will impose restrictions to protect agricultural areas with higher than average site class that local authorities will have to take into account when preparing comprehensive and detailed spatial plans in order to ensure the preservation of their soils and the possibility to ensure the supply of the country with food also in a longer-term perspective.

The legal regulation concerning valuable agricultural land will be established in order to achieve legal protection of agricultural land with a high cultivation value and its soils; agricultural use of valuable agricultural land to the largest extent possible and thereby security upon the production of food; a restriction on the building of construction works and afforestation on valuable agricultural land and a restriction on changing the intended purpose and the purpose of use of cadastral units intended to be used as profit-yielding land; a national overview on valuable agricultural areas; and the reflecting of parcels of agricultural land, including parcels of valuable agricultural land, in the register of parcels of agricultural land and on the relevant map.

The explanatory memorandum notes that, through the implementation of the mechanisms to protect valuable agricultural land, in a longer-term perspective, agricultural land use and the sustainability of rural life and through it the security of supply of food is expected to be uniformly ensured on the whole territory of the country.

According to the Bill, local authorities will set the conditions for the protection and use of valuable agricultural land by comprehensive plans. It is not planned to establish measures of state supervision of agricultural use of agricultural land. The great majority of the data on valuable agricultural land has been entered into the register of agricultural support and agricultural parcels (ARIB register) of the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB) that covers agricultural areas connected with the single area payment and the area-based supports paid under the Estonian Rural Development Plan 2014–2020. Supervision and control over the implementation of the supports is exercised on the bases of and pursuant to the procedure provided for in Chapter 11 of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act, which as a general rule gives the conviction that valuable agricultural land is in agricultural use.

The Bill on the Prevention of Unfair Trading Practices in the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain (377 SE), initiated by the Government, will provide as unfair trading practices transactions and activities that are connected with payment periods, supplies and conditions governing sales and that are prohibited in relations between buyers and suppliers in the agricultural and food supply chain.

Sixteen unfair trading practices have been listed, nine of which are prohibited in any case and always. For example, the buyer must not unilaterally change the terms of a supply agreement, cancel orders at such short notice that a supplier cannot reasonably be expected to find an alternative means of commercialising or using the products, threaten to carry out acts of commercial retaliation against the supplier, etc.

The remaining seven unfair trading practices are prohibited unless they have been previously agreed in clear and unambiguous terms. For example, where the bearing of the cost of discounts on agricultural and food products has not been agreed in writing in the supply agreement, a request from the buyer that such costs be borne is considered as an unfair trading practice. Such transactions do not give rise to any legal consequences and are void from their inception.

The Competition Authority will exercise supervision over trading practices, and a structural unit with six posts will be established therefor. The Competition Authority will also have to publish a relevant report and, by 15 March every year, submit to the European Commission an overview on the application of the requirements of the Act and on the ensurance of compliance therewith.

Liability will also be provided for for infringement of the prohibition on unfair trading practices. A punishment of up to 300 fine units or detention will be provided for natural persons and a fine of up to 400,000 euro for legal persons.

The aim of the Bill is to protect suppliers of agricultural and food products against unfair trading practices by buyers. The Bill will transpose the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain.

Ivari Padar (Social Democratic Party) took the floor during the debate.

The Riigikogu did not pass a Resolution

The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a Proposal to the Government of the Republic for Compensation of Days of Sick Leave from the First Day of Sick Leave” (346 OE), initiated by the Social Democratic Party Faction.

The draft Resolution made a proposal to the Government to pay to people infected with COVID-19 and their close contacts a sickness benefit of 100 per cent of their previous remuneration from the first day of their sick leave until their capacity for work is restored or until the day of the end of their quarantine. According to the draft Resolution, a one-off benefit in the amount of 500 euro should be paid to people who are not entitled to sickness benefit or whose sickness benefit is less than 500 euro.

Indrek Saar (Social Democratic Party) took the floor during the debate.

The proposal of the Social Affairs Committee as the lead committee was to hold a final vote on the draft Resolution. A majority vote of the members of the Riigikogu was needed for the Resolution to be passed. 31 member of the Riigikogu voted for the adoption of the Resolution and there was one abstention.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

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The aim of the Act is to provide more flexible hygiene requirements for handling food of animal origin for small businesses in order to reduce bureaucracy and to promote business development. According to the Act, the authorisation obligation is replaced by a notification obligation. This means that, in the future, businesses who are not subject to authorisation under the European Union hygiene regulations will not have to apply for authorisation. It will be sufficient that they notify of their activities by submitting a notice of economic activities.

Starting handling of food will become simpler but all requirements relating to food safety will remain in place. Food placed on the market must be safe for human health. The handler is responsible for the conformity of the food handled and the handling, and the handler is required to use all opportunities to ensure this. General food hygiene rules will remain in place in the future, and beginning food handlers and those already operating will have to comply with them regardless of the size or activity of the business. Before starting activity and submitting a notice of economic activities, a business will still have to meet the requirements for premises, employees as well as documents, and it will have to have a self-check plan.

The Act enters into force on 1 April.

During the debate, Ivari Padar (Social Democratic Party) took the floor and said that it was an important Act. Padar underlined that the Act would reduce the administrative burden and bureaucracy for those who undertake to develop business and to handle foodstuffs. He added that food hygiene rules would not change and regulations would have to be met, but bureaucratic burden would decrease.

92 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

The video recording of the sitting will be available on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

The post The Riigikogu passed an Act amending the Food Act appeared first on Riigikogu.

The minister pointed out that the drafting of the development plan had taken more than three years. It links together more than 30 separate development documents. Over 500 experts in their fields and over 150 representative organisations have participated in the drafting of the plan.

“The vision formulated in the co-creation of the agricultural development plan is the following: Estonian food is valued and it is good to live in the country. It is a vision of the future we are striving for, integrating the connections between sustainable food production and functioning rural life. There is not one without the other,” Aller said. “According to the vision, in 2030, Estonian food will have a good reputation and will be in high demand both in domestic and foreign markets. This will ensure all supply chain participants sufficient income to for the produce and food they produce and the services they provide. Good rural life is characterised by an attractive living and business environment where well-paid and varied jobs are available and unified and active communities are thriving. Therefore, in 2030 life in country will be valued, well developed and wealthy. There will be space for both large and small businesses who will contribute to the development of rural economy,” the Minister of Rural Affairs said.

In the minister’s words, an overall measurable goal of the development plan is that Estonian food is preferred, the environment and biodiversity are maintained, food sector companies are successful and rural and coastal communities are viable. “In order to achieve the overall goal, the produce of the agriculture and fisheries sector and food industry will have to be of very high quality, innovative and produced in an environmentally-friendly way,” Aller said. He added that, for this, more cooperation both within sectors and between different sectors was needed, and the latest research results and the best technologies needed to be applied.

The minister underlined that the current crisis had shown again that the domestic agriculture, fisheries and food industry sector was a very important strategic sector for every country.

In his report, Deputy Chairman of the Rural Affairs Committee Urmas Kruuse presented the discussion of the development plan in the Rural Affairs Committee. He pointed out that the discussions of the development plan had begun this March and the development plan had been discussed by sectors in the meetings. When speaking of the issues that had arisen in the committee, Kruuse highlighted labour issues and the financial capability needed to implement the objectives set.

During the debate, Ivari Padar (Social Democratic Party), Merry Aart (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Tarmo Tamm (Centre Party), Andres Metsoja (Isamaa), Heiki Hepner (Isamaa), Jevgeni Ossinovski (Social Democratic Party), Urmas Kruuse (Reform Party) and Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.

The Riigikogu passed an Act

The Act on the Ratification of the Investment Protection Agreement between the European Union and Its Member States, of the one part, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, of the other part (246 SE), initiated by the Government, aims to improve investment conditions between the European Union and Vietnam. The agreement will benefit European investors, ensuring the protection of high-level investments in Vietnam, at the same time reserving the parties the right to regulate the sector and to establish legal provisions. An investment tribunal system will be established, which has been developed to ensure the protection of the rights of citizens through transparent and independent resolution of investment disputes.

Estonia signed the agreement in on 25 June 2019.

78 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the passage of the Act.

One Bill passed the second reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Notaries Act and Other Acts (200 SE), initiated by the Government, will amend the procedure for the assumption of the office of notary. In the future, a person to fill an office of a notary will always need to pass an examination, and he or she will no longer be able to run as a candidate on the basis of the result of an examination taken previously. The amendments will also amend the Notaries Act by including an obligation of refresher training for notaries, notary candidates and substitute notaries.

As an important amendment, the maximum rates of fines provided for notaries and bailiffs for disciplinary offences will be harmonised with the rates of the fines imposed on lawyers and patent attorneys. The upper limit of a fine will be raised from 6,400 euro to 16,000 euro.

The Bill will extend the conditions under which an assistant bailiff may substitute a bailiff. At the same time, the Ministry of Justice will be given the central role in the administration and development of the information system of state legal aid. When the amendments enter into force, in the future, the Minister of Justice will establish the statutes of the information system of state legal aid.

Three Bills passed the first reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Food Act (228 SE), initiated by the Government, is due to the need to reduce the administrative burden for food handlers, to use an opportunity to establish more flexible requirements for the buildings and premises of businesses and to enable marketing of food of animal origin on the basis of notification obligation.

The aim of the Bill is to provide more flexible hygiene requirements for handling food of animal origin for small businesses in order to reduce bureaucracy and to promote business development. According to the Bill, the authorisation obligation will be replaced by notification obligation. This means that, in the future, businesses who are not subject to authorisation under the European Union hygiene regulations will not have to apply for authorisation. It will be sufficient that they notify of their activities by submitting a notice of economic activities.

According to the Bill, starting handling of food will become simpler but all requirements relating to food safety will remain in place. Food placed on the market must be safe for human health. The handler is responsible for the conformity of the food handled and the handling, and the handler is required to use all opportunities to ensure this. Before starting activity and submitting a notice of economic activities, a business will still have to meet the requirements for premises, employees as well as documents, and it will have to have a self-check plan, etc.

The Bill on Amendments to the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act (227 SE), initiated by the Government.

The Bill will specify in the part concerning the implementation of the aid in the apiculture sector the content of the activity report drawn up for the apiculture year, and the source documents for eligible costs necessary for obtaining aid in the apiculture sector. It will be provided that the activity report drawn up for the apiculture year will have to contain the results of the apiculture programme, in addition to a description of the activities. This will enhance the implementation of the apiculture programme because, starting from 2018, the participating Member States are required to notify to the European Commission a report based on the performance indicators for the apiculture year.

According to the Bill, the eligible costs of implementing the apiculture programme will be compensated on the basis of the payment claim and cost receipts submitted electronically to the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board via the electronic e-service environment of the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board. Compared to the current procedure, compensation will no longer be based on the activity report approved by the evaluation committee. The aim of the activity report is to evaluate the qualitative implementation of the programme and the report is not needed to evaluate the eligibility of the activities carried out. A payment claim and the documents proving the expenditure incurred will be sufficient for this.

In addition, the Act will be brought into conformity with European Union law by including two measures in the Rural Development Plan, support for restoring agricultural potential and support for agricultural insurance, in the case of which applications will no longer need to be evaluated. This will enable to have application rounds open all year round.

The Bill on Amendments to the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act (245 SE), initiated by the Government.

The Bill will clarify the application for an import licence for hemp seeds. The amendments concern the licences for hemp seeds other than for sowing, for example, those used as feedingstuff or for pressing oil. In order that the requirements in place would be unambiguously and clearly understandable to holders of licences in the future, the obligation to submit documents on the use of hemp seeds, the arrangements for authorisation and the carrying out of checks will be provided for by law.

The Bill provides that, before a person will acquire an import licence, he or she will have to obtain authorisation from the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board. He or she will have to submit documents on the use of hemp seeds to the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board within 12 months. The Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board will be given the competence to carry out checks on compliance with the requirements for the use of hemp seeds.

Practice has shown that operators fail to meet their obligations assumed under a licence. The obligation to submit documents derives from EU law under which, in the case of release for free circulation of hemp seeds other than for sowing, the import licence shall be issued only where the authorised importer undertakes that the authorities competent for checks concerning the relevant operations in the Member State where the importer is authorised will be provided, within the time limits and under the conditions set by the Member State, with documents. The same Regulation sets out the obligation of the Member State to approve the importer and to carry out checks. Thus, an authorisation by the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board will be a precondition for obtaining a licence, and submission of the documents within 12 months as of the issue of the licence will be a side-condition.

The deliberation of three Bills was transferred to tomorrow’s agenda

Due to the end of the working hours of the sitting, the Bill on Amendments to the Unemployment Insurance Act (250 SE), initiated by the Social Democratic Party Faction and member of the Riigikogu Raimond Kaljulaid, will be deliberated at tomorrow’s plenary sitting.

The purpose of the Bill is to extend the range of persons receiving unemployment insurance benefit to employees and officials who terminate their contract of employment or service relationship on their own initiative or by agreement of the parties and to increase the unemployment insurance benefit. The purpose of the Bill is to improve the economic subsistence of the unemployed for the time when they are looking for a job, enabling them to attend trainings so they can find a job that matches their skills and expectations.

The Bill on Amendments to the State Budget Act (increasing the transparency of the state budget) (251 SE), initiated by the Estonian Reform Party Faction, aims to ensure better transparency and understandability of the state budget and to improve the reporting on the implementation of the budget. This would enhance the role of the Riigikogu in the legislative proceedings on and the implementation of the state budget, and would ensure a timely response to possible deviations from an approved state budget.

The Bill on Amendments to the Funded Pensions Act and Amendments to Other Associated Act (287 SE), initiated by the Finance Committee, is related to the reform of the second pillar pension scheme. The Bill will make the necessary improvements particularly to the regulation concerning the pension investment account and will correct reference errors and inaccuracies. The Bill is essentially of a technical nature. The Bill will make no amendments concerning the dates relating to the implementation of the reform of the second pension pillar or any other fundamental changes.

In relation to the investment account, specifications will be made in the movement of the money and data relating to the account. For example, the procedure for the entry into a pension contract will be specified, where it will be recommended to use the money on the pension investment account to pay insurance premiums. The Bill will also specify the procedure for making the lump-sum payment made to the pensioners in the second pension pillar scheme and the partial lump-sum payment due to be added on 1 January 2022 under the reform Act where the payment will also include the money on the pension investment account.

The Bill will also make some simplifications to the processes of the payment of money from the second pension pillar. If a person retires from the second pension pillar scheme and uses all his or her money contributed to the pillar to do so, under the Bill, the registrar of the pension register will be allowed to simply pay the person the money accrued on the person’s pension account later or to transfer such money to his or her pension agreement, depending on which payment option he or she has used.

The Investment Funds Act prohibits charging a fee for the redemption of the units of a pension fund from unit-holders who have attained the old-age pension age or who are going to attain such age in no more than five years. The Bill will extend the prohibition to unit-holders who are assessed as having no ability to work and who are already equal to pensioners in the second pillar pension scheme anyway under the reform of the second pillar pension scheme. In the Guarantee Fund Act, the regulation of the compensation for any loss caused to unit-holders of the second pension pillar will be amended by including references to the pension investment account to which the amount of compensation should be transferred once the person no longer makes contributions to the pension fund but uses a pension investment account instead.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

The video recording of the sitting is available to watch on-demand on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

The post The agriculture and fisheries development plan until 2030 was introduced to the Riigikogu appeared first on Riigikogu.

Amendments are also made to the procedure for the establishment of the Place Names Board. In the future, the Minister of Public Administration will establish the statutes of the Place Names Board, and the number of the members of the Place Name Board will no longer be determined at the level of Act. At present, the Board may have 11-15 members.

In the future, the Land Board who was the authorised processor of the register up to now will maintain the place names register instead of the Ministry of Finance. The functions of the authorised processor of the register are assigned to the information technology centre of the Ministry of the Environment. On the basis of that, in the future, the Minister of the Environment will also establish the statutes of the register.

During the debate, Eerik-Niiles Kross took the floor on behalf of the Estonian Reform Party Faction.

76 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of passing the Act and there was one abstention.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recordings of the sittings of the Riigikogu can be viewed on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

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