The European Union (EU) is inviting a public call for the introduction of standards and certification in agricultural and food production.
The project “European Union support for the competitiveness of agriculture and rural development in Bosnia and Herzegovina” (EU4Agri) is a four-year project (2020 – 2024) that aims to modernize the agricultural and food sector and improve the rural economy by increasing the competitiveness of agricultural production, jobs and services . The project is implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the Czech Development Agency ( CzDA ).
Objectives
In order to achieve sustainable and competitive agriculture, controlled use of natural resources and the introduction of good practices , the Project expects to achieve the following goals through the implementation of measures to support the introduction of standards and certification in agricultural production:
Contribution to the stabilization/strengthening of the agri-food industry through the introduction of quality standards and certification of production and operations in the agri-food sector;
Improving product quality, hygiene, traceability and food safety through the introduction of basic and higher quality standards, which contributes to the preservation of human/consumer health;
Strengthening the protection system and raising the value of agricultural and food products;
Promoting good practices and sustainable development by improving natural resource management, environmental protection, worker protection and food safety.
Increasing competitiveness and facilitating access to new markets
Eligible Sectors for Support
For support introduction of standards and certification in agricultural and food production acceptable are everyone projects that are exclusively relations on introduction standards and process certification _ and / or products that are intended human nutrition.
Funding Information
Total available means of support introduction standards / systems controls quality and certification in agricultural and food production amounts up to 1,000,000.00 KM per this public call.
Support funds per application can amount from 5,000 KM to 50,000 KM and can only be used to finance eligible costs (pay attention to the definition of acceptable costs that can be financed from the Project funds).
Expected Results
Through the implementation of this Public Call, the following results are expected:
successfully implemented a minimum of 30 projects in the course of which the selected applicants will fulfill the conditions for acquiring quality standards and production quality certificates, with the aim of increasing competitiveness on the market and ensuring better product quality.
Eligibility Criteria
Acceptable applicants for grants under the support measure for the introduction of standards and certification in agricultural production and processing of agricultural products can be trades, entrepreneurs , cooperatives, associations and companies in accordance with the valid classification in BiH, as follows:
micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that were registered no later than two years before the publication of this Public Call and that are engaged in the production, processing or production and processing of agricultural products for human consumption,
Trades/ entrepreneurs and cooperatives that have been engaged in the production, processing or production and processing of agricultural products for human consumption for no less than two years from the publication of this public call,
Associations that were registered no later than two years before the announcement of this public call and that gather exclusively producers/processors of agricultural products for human consumption. Associations are eligible applicants only if the project proposal refers to group certification (association members).
Ineligible Applicants
Projects will not consider or grant support to applicants who are found to:
submitted untrue and incorrect information and accompanying documentation through the application;
are in the process of pre-bankruptcy settlement or liquidation;
they are not registered on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
did not fulfill obligations to pay due taxes and contributions for pension and health insurance in accordance with legal provisions (applicants who have concluded a contract with tax authorities in BiH on debt service will not be taken into consideration);
have not settled all obligations towards their employees on any basis;
have been convicted of a criminal offense related to their business based on a final judgment;
in the past 3 years, they have unfulfilled obligations for the allocated incentive measures of the entity ministries, that is, the relevant institutions of the Brčko District of BiH (BD);
have not successfully completed the implementation of previously approved projects that were financed through EU4AGRI, EU4Business projects or projects financed and/or implemented by UNDP;
have a share of public capital or voting rights of that public capital in the ownership structure ;
operated with a loss (deficit) in 2021 ;
The owner and/or responsible person holds a public office, or is employed in government institutions.
