Legal rules for starting agricultural activity in Poland by natural and legal persons, and then entry into the voluntary registers

Abstract

The aim of the article is to assess the regulations concerning the commencement and conduct of agricultural activity in Poland, in terms of entries in the registers related to agriculture and other information obligations, and to indicate legal problems. The article deals with the issue of excluding agricultural activities conducted by natural persons from the obligation to register in the National Central Register and Information on Economic Activity in Poland, pursuant to the Act of March 6, 2018 – the Entrepreneurs' Law and related activities e.g. agritourism, the processing and concentrate on discussion whether agricultural activity is an economic activity. Further, issues associated with obtaining an identification number and entry into the national system of producer records, and records of agricultural holdings and records of payment applications kept by the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture are addressed. The problem of whether spouses who run separate farms can obtain separate identification numbers and register their farms is also considered. In order to receive direct payments and other EU funds, it is necessary to obtaining a separate number. The article also refers to other registers, e.g. the Animal Registry and Other Registers related to agriculture, Registration in the Farmers' Social Insurance Fund, the Public Aid Registration System of De minimis aid in agriculture, the Register of organic farms, the Register of beneficiaries of the CAP, and the Land and Mortgage register, register of agricultural producer groups, recognized producer organizations and their associations, and transnational producer organizations and their associations, in the fruit and vegetable market; Records of producer organizations, associations of producer organizations. Finally, the article covers the registration of Associations of Rural Women, which have been popular in Poland for a very long time. At the end, the author states that there is a growing number of registers in Poland. Most registers are related to Poland's membership in the European Union and the functioning of EU institutions or legal solutions. The electronic form of registers should make matters easier, as it saves the time and money that would be required to travel to the institutions dealing with the register, and less paperwork is involved in completing applications. There are also savings in administrative costs for registrars. However, in practice problems can arise. For example, in terms of Internet access, saving data, and problems with the functioning of a given website or register.