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Supplies And Services Act (Cap. 117) Farm Advisory Services Regulations, 2007 (L.N. 66 Of 2007 )

SUPPLIES AND SERVICES ACT (CAP. 117)Farm Advisory Services Regulations, 2007

IN exercise of the powers conferred by article 3 of the Supplies and Services Act (Cap. 117), the Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment has made the following regulations:-

Services Regulations, 2007.
(2) The scope of these regulations is to assist farmers and forest holders by providing professional advice on statutory management requirements, good agricultural and environmental conditions, occupational safety standards and all associated Community legislation for the improvement of the overall performance of their holding.

(a) the statutory management requirements and the good agricultural and environmental conditions provided for in Articles 4 and 5 and in Annexes III and IV to Regulation EC
1782/2003 (GAEC Measures for each EC Issue);
(b) occupational safety standards based on Community legislation;
(c) observance, by farmers, of -
(i) good farming practices,
(ii) code of good agricultural practices, (iii) health and safety standards,
(iv) awareness and above all compliance with all
Directives falling under cross compliance,
(v) developments and obligations on current and future CAP payments and rural development measures,

Citation and scope.

Objective of farm advisory services.

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Full farm advisory service obligations.

Register of farm advisory consultants and companies and, or entities.

Register to be divided into parts.

Register to be divided into categories.

Issue of certificates by Farm Advisory Registration Board.

(vi) aid in the compilation of application forms and, or whole farm management plans of rural development measures.

(2) The identification system for agricultural parcels shall be established on the basis of maps or land registry documents or other cartographic references utilised by the IACS Department of the Ministry responsible for rural affairs. Use shall be made of computerised geographical information system techniques including, preferably, aerial or spatial orthoimagery, with an homogenous standard guaranteeing accuracy at least equivalent to cartography at a scale of 1:10 000.
(3) The farm advisory service company and, or entity shall each year provide a copy of the status report of each client to the IACS Department.

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therein all suspensions, cancellations and reinstatements of those certificates.

(2) No company or entity may act as a farm advisory service provider unless it is registered in the part of the Register relating to farm advisory service companies.

(2) Decisions on applications for registration shall be taken by a Registration Board composed of four persons, being the Director General (Rural Affairs and Paying Agency), a representative from the Department of Agriculture, a representative from IACS and a representative from the Rural Development Department. One of these persons shall be appointed, by the Minister, chairperson of the Registration Board.
(3) The Board shall assess applications for registration and shall prepare a list of persons who, in the opinion of the Registration Board, meet the requirements for registration and are therefore to be issued with a certificate of registration. The Board shall also give reasons for its decisions.
(4) The decision of the Board to accept or to refuse an application for registration in the Register shall be notified in writing to the applicant without delay.
(5) The Board may advise the Ministry to update the Register at such regular intervals as it may deem fit by the inclusion of any other new disciplines, which may have evolved, in the Register.

(2) The application for registration shall include the following information:

Registration.

Ministry to refuse statements.

Further functions of the Board.

Application for registration.

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(a) the name, surname, education, qualifications and office address of the applicant for registration;
(b) a list of any relevant working experience, of the applicant;
(c) a detailed curriculum vitae (which is to include details of the person’s training, experience and knowledge in farm advisory-related matters);
(d) an indication of the particular agricultural, veterinary or environmental discipline for which the person is applying for registration.

Registration by the Board.

(3) The application for registration shall be accompanied by the appropriate fee as set out in the Schedule.

(a) has the minimal appropriate qualifications consisting of a Degree from a recognized institution in any of the disciplines mentioned in regulation 11(2)(d); and
(b) has a minimum of two years’ working experience in one or more relevant disciplines.
(2) Certificates issued to eligible persons shall be valid for one year but may be renewed by the Board upon payment of the relevant renewal fee according to the Schedule, except where a person has been found guilty of any of the offences referred to in regulation 14.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subregulation (1), the Board may grant a temporary certificate valid for one year to any person who, in its opinion, has the appropriate qualifications but does not have sufficient experience in the relevant discipline or in all the farm advisory-related issues. Temporary certificates may only be extended for a maximum period of two years.
(4) (a) In order to be registered as farm advisory entities, companies shall have to demonstrate that their technical personnel or other consultants engaged to provide services will have experience and knowledge of current CAP policies, cross compliance, good farming practices, CoGAP, health and safety, current rural development measures and applications, and agricultural production (livestock and crop husbandry). Furthermore these companies must undertake to organize training courses in cross compliance, codes of good agricultural practices, and health and safety related issues to
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their clients. All temporary farm advisory officials shall also be obliged to undertake these training courses as a pre-requisite to obtaining or confirming their registration.
(b) Companies registering as farm advisory entities shall be obliged to follow advice and recommendations given by the rural affairs and the paying agency departments; moreover, such entities are bound to ensure that correlated work shall not be rediverted to, or requested from, the rural affairs and paying agency departments.
(c) Companies registering as farm advisory entities shall present a schedule of relevant proposed fees to the Board for its approval as part of the recognition process.
(d) Companies registering as farm advisory entities shall first apply for recognition and, if such recognition is granted, shall consequently be bound to pay the registration fee.
(e) Companies registering as farm advisory entities shall also provide a declaration indicating that there is no conflict of interest with their clients. The company shall be bound to ensure that advisory officials who give advice shall not have the same evaluating status of applicants.
(f) All entity or client data, record or status changes shall be reported to the Registration Board within ten working days.

(a) the name, surname and identity document number or other means of identification of the consultant or company;
(b) the date when the certificate is issued; and
(c) the discipline in which the consultant is considered by the Registration Board as having an acceptable level of expertise.

(a) is found guilty by a court of criminal jurisdiction of a crime, being a crime committed through imprudence, carelessness, unskillfulness in an art or profession, or non- observance of these regulations; or

Certificate of registration.

Cancellation of certificates.

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Cap. 117.

Information on certificates.

(b) is found guilty by a court of criminal jurisdiction of any offence under the provisions of the Supplies and Services Act, hereinafter referred to as "the Act", or of any regulations made thereunder; or
(c) has, in the opinion of the Board, submitted substandard or deliberately misleading work in any farm advisory procedure;
(d) has participated in the preparation of another farm advisory procedure when such person was not registered in the Register; or
(e) was the recipient of a certificate issued under the provisions of these regulations based on information given by the applicant which is false or misleading; or
(f) fails to pay the yearly renewal fee.
(2) A person who participates in any of the processes involved in the provision of farm advisory services without being registered in the Register shall subsequently be barred from registering or participating in any action relative to farm advisory services in Malta for a period to be decided by the Board, which period shall in no case be less than three years.
15. (1) Any person or company who, for the purposes of obtaining the certificate for registration in the Register, gives any wrong information or otherwise acts in a deceitful or fraudulent manner, shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine (multa) not exceeding one thousand liri. Furthermore, where the offence is committed by a company, that company shall automatically become ineligible for current and future funding assistance under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
(2) (a) Any person who, not being the holder of a certificate, assumes or uses the designation ‘farm advisory services consultant’ or ‘temporary farm advisory official’ or in any manner indicates that he is entitled to be involved in a farm advisory service shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine (multa) not exceeding one thousand liri.
(b) Any company that, not being the holder of a certificate, assumes or misuses the role of a farm advisory entity shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine (multa) not exceeding one thousand liri; furthermore, the company shall automatically become ineligible for current and future funding
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assistance under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural
Development.
(3) For the purposes of subregulation (2), the use on any card, letterhead, sign, board, plate, advertisement or other written, printed or engraved device, instrument or document, of the words ‘farm advisory service consultant’ or ‘temporary farm advisory official’, in relation to a name, shall be sufficient evidence that such use was made whether with or without the person’s knowledge, unless the person proves that, upon becoming aware of such use, he took adequate steps to stop it.
(4) The offences and fines mentioned in this regulation shall be without prejudice to any other offences and penalties in terms of the Act or of any other law.

Definition of person.

Registration periods.

Right of appeal.

Board inspections.

Changes to commitments.

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SCHEDULE Regulation 11(3)
SCHEDULE OF FEES FOR REGISTRATION FOR FARM ADVISORY SERVICES
The following fees shall apply for registration under one of the hereunder listed categories of Farm Advisory Servcices:
CATEGORY AND DESCRIPTION OF FEE Lm
Temporary Advisory Official
Recognition Fee 21.46
Upgrade to next level 10.73
Advisory Official
Recognition Fee 25.76
Yearly Renewal Fee 10.73
Legal Entity
Recognition Fee 42.93
Registration Fee 429.30
Yearly Renewal Fee 107.35