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Agriculture
Reference:
Voronina N.P.
State support for organic agriculture
// Agriculture.
2023. № 1.
P. 44-50.
DOI: 10.7256/2453-8809.2023.1.43706 EDN: UCDOWO URL: https://en.nbpublish.com/library_read_article.php?id=43706
State support for organic agriculture
Voronina Natal'ya Pavlovna
Doctor of Law
Associate Professor, Professor of the Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Law, O.E. Kutafin University (MSLA)
125933, Russia, Moscow, Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya str., 9
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nvoroninamgua@yandex.ru
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DOI: 10.7256/2453-8809.2023.1.43706
EDN: UCDOWO
Received:
01-08-2023
Published:
08-08-2023
Abstract:
Organic agriculture is recognized as one of the modern tools for solving both food and environmental problems. In Russia, the development of organic agriculture has been carried out only in recent decades. At the same time, according to forecasts, both domestic demand for organic products and its exports will grow. Therefore, the strategic task of the Russian state is to create an institutional basis for organic agriculture. Organic agriculture, due to its specifics, needs state support. The purpose of this article is to determine the legal approach to the mechanism of legal regulation of state support for organic producers at the federal and regional levels through the prism of the analysis of the legal regulation of measures of state support for organic producers at the federal and regional levels. Proposals have been formulated to improve the current legislation in terms of measures of state support for organic agriculture. State support is an institutional factor in the development of organic agriculture. A separate set of state support measures is needed, which is normatively fixed in addition to the general agricultural Law in the Organic Law. In the practice of rule–making, such an approach - for example, measures of state support for private households, in addition to the Law on Agriculture, are provided for in Federal Law No. 112-FZ of July 7, 2003 "On personal subsidiary farming". It seems that it is impractical to adopt a separate federal law on organic beekeeping, but it is necessary to supplement the Law on Organic Products with appropriate norms by directly indicating its application to relations on organic beekeeping, and in the Law on Beekeeping to make a reference to the Law on Organic.
Keywords:
organic agriculture, legislation, government support, agricultural production, standards, financing, support measures, agricultural commodity producer, executive branch, agricultural products
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The development of organic agriculture is recognized as one of the goals of building a modern model of agriculture both in the Russian Federation and in the world. Federal Law No. 280-FZ of August 3, 2018 "On Organic Products and on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" (hereinafter referred to as the Organic Law) in Article 9 provides that state support for producers of organic products is provided in the manner and forms provided for by Federal Law No. 264 of December 29, 2006-Federal Law "On the Development of Agriculture" (hereinafter – the Law on Agriculture). Article 7 of the Agricultural Law provides that the development of organic agriculture and the support of agricultural producers producing it is a direction of state support, the measures of which are envisaged both at the level of the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation. Based on the context of the Organic Law, priority in legal regulation is mainly given to federal executive authorities. But the subjects of the Russian Federation can also adopt their own regulatory legal acts, because based on Article 3 of the Organic Law, "the legal regulation of relations in the field of organic production is based on ... laws and other regulatory legal acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation." In conjunction with the provisions of the Law on Agriculture, the system of legal regulation of state support for organic production can be characterized, at least, as two-level: federal and regional levels. A thorough review of regional legislation regarding the regulation of organic production was conducted by I. A. Ignatieva [3]. Currently , there are two models of legal regulation of measures of state support for organic producers: 1) among the general measures of state support for producers of all types of agricultural products (this approach is implemented in regulatory legal acts regulating the support of agriculture as a whole) and 2) measures of state support for producers of organic products (it is implemented either in the norms incorporated into the general regulatory legal act aimed at the development of agriculture as a whole, or in regulations aimed at regulating organic agriculture). Basically, the first model of regulation of measures of state support for organics has been implemented in the subjects of the Russian Federation. As the practice of regional rulemaking shows, a number of subjects of the Russian Federation [6, p.62] have adopted laws regulating the production of organic products that have proven themselves well in law enforcement practice. In the Law of the Voronezh Region dated July 13, 2020 No. 80-OZ "On the Regulation of certain relations in the Field of organic production in the Voronezh Region" (hereinafter referred to as the Law of the Voronezh Region) and the Law of the Krasnodar Territory dated July 5, 2019 No. 4077–KZ "On the development of organic production in the Krasnodar Territory" (hereinafter referred to as – The Law of the CC) the information and methodological support of organic agriculture is regulated in detail. Information support includes the placement of information: about suppliers of goods, works, services for the production of organic matter, about land plots for its production; about the results of scientific research; about the producers of these products; about legal acts in the field of production and turnover of organic matter (art. 7 of the Law in, art. 8 of the Law of the CC). Methodological support is the organization of the development of recommendations on organic production technologies and scientific research, analysis of the best practices of organic production, provision of consulting and educational services, training, organization of participation in the development of draft legal acts, etc. (Article 8 of the HE Law). The CC Law defines the directions of state policy in the field of organic production. These are the development of the market for organic products, increasing the competitiveness of domestic products, the development of small and medium-sized businesses, maintaining the ecological balance of ecosystems, providing the population with safe and useful products (Article 4 of the CC Law). Among the measures of state support for the production of organic products are the provision of subsidies from the regional budget for reimbursement of part of the costs of organic production, for the purchase and use of soil-improving substances, fertilizers and plant protection products, for the provision of per-hectare support for the implementation of a complex of agrotechnological measures for the cultivation of organic products; for certification of organic production (Article 7 of the CC Law). A more expanded list of measures of state support for organic producers is provided in the Saratov region (hereinafter – SO). Thus, the Law of November 4, 2003 No. 68-ZSO "On state support for the production and sale of agricultural products (including organic products) in the Saratov region" establishes as such assistance in obtaining loans, machinery and equipment for leasing, subsidizing part of the interest rate on loans, insurance premium compensation, advance purchases organic products, purchasing and commodity interventions.
Meanwhile, as a rule, measures of state support for organic producers in most subjects of the Russian Federation are mainly limited only to information and methodological support of organic agriculture. This makes it possible to popularize organic products among the population and producers. But more substantial assistance is needed for organic producers. According to E. L. Minin, "the need for special measures of state support for organic production ... is due to a number of circumstances, including the duration and complexity of the transition to organic methods of agricultural production, ... but at the same time the interest of the state and society in obtaining high-quality food for the population and improving the state of the environment in rural areas" [4, p.96]. In our opinion, it is necessary to expand the measures of state support for organic producers. In particular, to provide for the provision of land plots from state and municipal ownership from agricultural lands for the production of organic products on a preferential basis. Moreover, "the share of lands on which organic farming technology is used in the total area of agricultural land in Russia is significantly lower than the global average" [5]. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the area of agricultural land on which organic agriculture is carried out. This correlates with the forecast of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia on the increase in the volume of the domestic market of organic products by 2030 to 150 billion rubles and the growth of exports of organic products to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and China. Personnel training is needed for organic agriculture. When organizing it, it is possible to take into account the positive experience of friendly countries, such as India and Brazil. In India, "the production of organic products ... is recognized as a strategic task at the national level … The main directions of the state policy in the field of organic agriculture are the definition of standards for the production of organic products and its certification. In addition, state programs have been developed for training and advanced training for producers of organic products and organizations that certify organic products" [2, p.184]. In Brazil, the training of qualified personnel in the course of agronomy with the specialization "organic agriculture" is actively carried out [7, pp.59-60]. The organization of personnel training in the field of organic production should be carried out in the Russian Federation, including through digital technologies. Currently, a number of educational organizations in Russia are carrying out such training. In particular, the Russian State Agrarian University - the Timiryazev Moscow Agricultural Academy is the first university that began to train personnel for organic agriculture within the framework of the direction "Agrochemistry and agro-soil science". But in the field of training personnel for organic agriculture, an urgent issue remains "the development of professional educational standards and programs of primary vocational, secondary vocational and higher education, which will allow training highly qualified personnel for organic agriculture at all levels of both secondary vocational and higher education" [5]. A strategic planning document in the field of organic agriculture is needed. For example, in India it is a National Program for Organic Production. In Russia, at the initiative of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia has developed a draft Strategy for the development of organic agricultural production until 2030. It notes, "according to the National Organic Union, more than 290 thousand hectares of land for organic production have been certified in Russia, the market is growing by about 10% per year" [5]. Among the main directions of organics are the production of dairy products, baby food, animal husbandry. At the same time, there are practically no organic wild plants, aquaculture, beekeeping. Regarding organic beekeeping in the Russian Federation, we can say that organic honey is actually produced in our country, but the Russian Federation lags behind foreign countries, including due to the lack of proper legal regulation. The Federal Law of December 30, 2020 490-FZ "On Beekeeping in the Russian Federation" has been adopted and is in force in Russia. But there are no norms aimed at the development of organic beekeeping. 40 constituent entities of the Russian Federation have adopted their own laws on beekeeping. But they, as a rule, copy the norms of the federal law on beekeeping and do not provide for the development of organic beekeeping. There is no such regulation in the Law on Organic Products. Some experts propose to adopt a separate law on organic beekeeping [1, p.23]. In our opinion, it is impractical to adopt a separate federal law on organic beekeeping. We believe that it is necessary to supplement the Law on Organic Products with appropriate norms by directly indicating its application to organic beekeeping relations, and in the Law on Beekeeping to make a reference to the Law on Organic. Thus, state support is an institutional factor in the development of organic agriculture. A separate set of state support measures is needed, which is normatively fixed in addition to the general agricultural Law in the Organic Law. In the practice of rule–making, such an approach - for example, measures of state support for private households, in addition to the Law on Agriculture, are provided for in Federal Law No. 112-FZ of July 7, 2003 "On personal subsidiary farming".
References
1. Afanasiev V. I. (2018). Organic agriculture and organic beekeeping: state, development trends and efficiency. Economics of agricultural and processing enterprises, 4, 20-23.
2. Voronina N. P. (2022). Sustainable ("green") development of agriculture in the context of climate change: the legal experience of Russia and India. Actual problems of Russian law, T. 17. No. 7(140), p. 184.
3. Ignatieva I. A. (2022). Regional legislation on organic products: state and problems. Property relations in the Russian Federation, 12, 94-108.
4. Scientific and practical commentary to the Federal Law of August 3, 2018 No. 280-FZ "On organic products and on amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation" and to the Federal Law of June 11, 2021 No. 159-FZ "On agricultural products, raw materials and foodstuffs with improved characteristics” (item-by-item). Ed. ed. E.L. Minin. Moscow: Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation: INFRA-M.
5. Draft Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation on the approval of the Strategy for the Development of Organic Production in the Russian Federation until 2030 [Electronic resource]. Retrieved from https://mcx.gov.ru/upload/iblock/fc0/8i2u68ntqetbkj3mi3qaqqtbvpoblf3a.pdf
6. Ryzhkova S. M., Kruchina V. M., Gasanova Kh. N., & Novoselov E. A. (2017). Legal regulation of the market of organic products in Russia. Economics of agricultural and processing enterprises, 8, 57-63.
7. Taran V.V., & Sokolova Zh.E. Institutional factor in the development of the world market for organic products. Economics and Entrepreneurship, 11, 50-61.
Peer Review
Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.
The subject of the research in the article submitted for review is, as its name implies, state support for organic agriculture. The stated boundaries of the study are fully respected by the author. The methodology of the research is not disclosed in the text of the article, but it is obvious that the scientists used universal dialectical, logical, formal legal research methods, as well as the method of legal modeling. The relevance of the research topic chosen by the author is justified very briefly: "The development of organic agriculture is recognized as one of the goals of building a modern model of agriculture both in the Russian Federation and in the world." Regarding the study of the problems raised in the article, the scientist notes that "A thorough review of regional legislation in terms of regulating the production of organic products was conducted by I. A. Ignatieva [3]." It is not explicitly stated what the scientific novelty of the work is. In fact, it manifests itself in a number of conclusions and suggestions made by the author as a result of the study: "... as a rule, measures of state support for organic producers in most subjects of the Russian Federation are mainly limited only to information and methodological support for organic agriculture. ... more substantial assistance is needed to producers of organic products"; "... it is necessary to expand measures of state support for producers of organic products. In particular, to provide for the provision of land plots from state and municipal ownership from agricultural lands for the production of organic products on a preferential basis"; "Personnel training is needed for organic agriculture. When organizing it, it is possible to take into account the positive experience of friendly countries, such as India and Brazil"; "A strategic planning document in the field of organic agriculture is needed." The article certainly contributes to the development of Russian legal science and deserves the attention of the readership. The scientific style of the research is fully sustained by the author. The structure of the work is quite logical. In the introductory part of the article, the author makes an attempt to substantiate the relevance of the chosen research topic. In the main part of the work, the scientist, based on the analysis of domestic legislation, identifies a number of problems that arise when providing state support for organic agriculture and suggests ways to solve them. The final part of the article contains general conclusions based on the results of the study. The content of the article corresponds to its title and does not cause any particular complaints. The bibliography of the study is presented by 7 sources (scientific articles, scientific and practical commentary and a draft decree of the Government of the Russian Federation). From a formal and factual point of view, this is quite enough. The author managed to reveal the research topic with the necessary depth and completeness. The provisions of the work are sufficiently justified. The appeal to the opponents is of a general nature. The scientific discussion is conducted by the author correctly. Basically, the author refers to a number of sources used in writing the article to confirm his judgments or to illustrate some of the provisions of the work. There are conclusions based on the results of the study ("Thus, government support is an institutional factor in the development of organic agriculture. A separate set of state support measures is needed, which is normatively fixed in addition to the general agricultural Law in the Organic Law. In the practice of rule–making, such an approach - for example, measures of state support for private households, in addition to the Law on Agriculture, are provided for in Federal Law No. 112-FZ of July 7, 2003 "On Personal Subsidiary Farming"), but they are general in nature and do not reflect all scientific achievements of a scientist. The article needs additional proofreading. It contains typos and punctuation errors. The interest of the readership in the article submitted for review can be shown primarily by specialists in the field of agrarian law, land law, environmental law, provided that it is finalized: disclosure of the research methodology, additional justification of the relevance of its topic, concretization of conclusions based on the results of the study, elimination of violations in the design of the article.
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