The Saeima has adopted and the President promulgated the following laws: the law of agriculture chapter I. General provisions article 1. The terms used in the law, the law is applied in the following terms: 1) agriculture — the meaning of this law: economic sectors, the Mission of which is the production of agricultural products and pretreatment;
2) agricultural policy: public attitudes to agricultural production and the measures of its marketing;
3) agricultural products — vegetable or animal products consumed in the original form or after pre-treatment, sold unprocessed or used as the raw material for food products and other products;
4) primary agricultural production — plant and animal production, the original preparation to delivery the necessary quality requirements, without changing the mechanical structure and chemical properties;
5) agricultural producers: the natural or legal person that produces agricultural products or undertaking first processing;
6) agricultural producers in the Organization of the local agriculture producers and processors cooperative association, (collaborative), Union of society and their associations;
7) national programme — agricultural production sectors, supporting environment friendly and socially-oriented agricultural development package;
8) encouraged non-agricultural industry-agricultural industry, which is defined in the respective supporting agricultural development in the annual programme;
9) public subsidies — public targeted beneficial interventions in agricultural production and the market, grant of funds for a specific purpose, to promote the efficiency and competitiveness of production;
10) national agricultural specialized companies, research institutions, national selection and test station and training farm;
11) market intervention — procurement of agricultural products on the internal market of security for specific intervention prices when market prices are lower than those prices;
12) the intervention price, the Cabinet approved the annual programme for the development of agriculture in the State defined in the agricultural and food production on the purchase price;
13) Earth transformation — land use change, not related to property rights.
2. article. The purpose and tasks of the law the law aims to ensure agriculture as one of the economic development and the identification of key long-term agricultural policy. The task of this law is to create the preconditions: 1) effective for the development of agricultural policy in the period of transition until the admission of Latvia in the European Union to make the necessary structural adjustment and increase the industry's competitiveness in the international market;
2) economically stable, environment friendly and socially-oriented agricultural development, land, water, forests and other natural resource use and conservation of the balanced, rural heritage development environment, respecting the diversity of social, ecological and regional conditions;
3) rational and diversified rural enterprise development, to produce a potentially cheap, high-quality and competitive products, to improve the efficiency of agricultural production;
4) safeguarding employment in rural areas;
5) from agriculture and production and processing of annual average income gained by smoothing with the average annual income in the economy;
6) in comparison with other sectors of the economy to compensate for the adverse factors in agriculture, creating the employees equivalent to social and economic welfare;
7) agricultural market regulation for the implementation of the guiding principles;
8) public authorities and the producers of agricultural production, the rational organization of self-government activities, determining the duties and responsibilities for the agricultural policy development and implementation;
9) agricultural science and education development.
Chapter II. Agricultural policy and its enforcement order article 3. Agricultural policy legal basis the legal basis for agricultural policy are: 1) this law;
2) agricultural development programme;
3) national programmes;
4) laws on taxes and duties, as well as other laws and regulations.
4. article. Agricultural policy the agricultural policy implementation is realized by investing in the country and overseas, including natural and legal persons funds to the field in arranging infrastructure and competitive agricultural production technology, increasing subsidies, providing favourable lending policy, making the protection of the internal market and to facilitate agricultural tax policies.
5. article. National agricultural marketing (1) affect the agricultural production of the country with economic and legal methods. The rational development of agricultural State, respecting the particularities of regions and industries, uses: 1) public investment;
2) long-term and stable tax policy;
3) State subsidies (including subsidies for regional equalization);
4) national financial and credit policy;
5) tariffs and tariff quotas;
6) market intervention;
7) other types of payments.
(2) the use of governmental influence agricultural production methods must comply with the international institutions also suggested agricultural regulatory principles.
6. article. Annual report by the Agriculture Ministry of agriculture each year up to July 1, submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers of Agriculture annual report provides an overview of the situation of agriculture and of agricultural development program of the year of the implementation of the tasks set out in the previous year, including the following: 1) agricultural production and consumption year by sector;
2) internal market, import and export volume and structure, as well as production quality;
3) producers of agricultural production costs and income;
4) position in the agricultural business lending, investments and subsidies in agriculture;
5) tax and their types;
6) employment and social problems;
7) overview of land ownership and changes in the Land Fund;
8) overview of agricultural lands, including drained land, the use of drainage system condition and soil improvers;
9) agricultural industry and business type;
10 country program) overview of implementation of agriculture;
11) agricultural education, agricultural professionals and skilled workers in preparation;
12) overview of the scientific activity in the field of agriculture;
13) results of agricultural production in comparison with other countries the results of the year.
7. article. The agricultural development program of the year (1) the Cabinet of Ministers every year until 1 august approves the annual programme for the development of agriculture, which sets tasks for the development of agriculture for next year and the core tasks for the period of three years, as well as specific measures and mechanisms of their realisation.
(2) agricultural development programme is formulated in the expected: 1) necessary for the supply of the population and the year the possible main agricultural products production;
2) customs tariffs and tariff quotas;
3) appropriations for the agricultural science and education development;
4) agricultural sectors to develop national programs and the most important scientific topics and projects, indicating the amount of financing and development readiness;
5) development of external economic relations (including international treaties);
6) income, production costs and taxes;
7) social measures;
8) environmental protection and agricultural product quality measures of influence;
9) appropriations from the State budget and investment;
10) economically eligible areas, the agricultural sector support and subsidy allocation principles, types and extent;
11) market intervention.
(3) the Ministry of agriculture in the month following the approval of the national budget in the relevant instructions for the development of agricultural development for the implementation of the annual programme.
8. article. Informational support (1) the Ministry of agriculture in coordination with the National Statistics Committee, developing a methodology and documentation for obtaining statistical data on agriculture as a whole and its individual sectors, improve information and establish the incredible range of the company, as well as the volume of messages received, and recurrence.
(2) the State Committee on statistics, in cooperation with the Ministry of agriculture to collect data on agricultural producers incomes, expenses, taxes and charges in the previous year, classifying them according to the size, type, and the type of economic activity. To this end, it shall collect and assess not less than 1500 agricultural producers working results.
(3) the National Statistics Committee, in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture of the methodology, exploring the internal and external agricultural products markets, collects and publishes information on agricultural production and the agricultural resource prices on food demand and prices in the internal and external markets.

(4) market regulation measures in support of the use of national statistical information and information prepared by the Ministry of agriculture.
Chapter III. Agricultural product market promotion, article 9. Market promotion techniques (1) the cabinet shall take measures to promote the Latvian agricultural producers the opportunity to realize their products in the Baltic, the world and the internal market, including public institutions and national reserve.
(2) for the non-agricultural sector supported the market promotion of the responsible Ministry of agriculture.
10. article. Market adjustment (1) the market relationship is based on a contract concluded between agricultural producers, processors and trading companies or businesses in the State party; presented in the contract production quantities and the minimum price for the time period from one year to three years.
(2) agricultural products and their product market regulation of the use of techniques and methods that do not conflict with the laws and international agreements concluded by Latvia.
(3) price stability, the Cabinet of Ministers each year to market intervention.
(4) the Cabinet of Ministers rules of agricultural production and agricultural product and services pricing and tariff parity.
(5) the Ministry of agriculture quarterly collects data about the main food market situation and predicts its dynamics (import and export, consumption, recycling, trade resources). If the import transactions or local producers may encounter material losses, the Cabinet of Ministers made law "on customs duties (tariffs)", international agreements and other documents provided for in laws safeguard measures.
11. article. Agricultural imports (1) agricultural imports are used to adjust customs tariffs in accordance with the law "on the customs duties (tariffs)".
(2) agricultural products may be imported only through the provisions of the Cabinet after the frontier and customs control the customs duties specified.
(3) the revenues derived from confiscated and abandoned agricultural and food product sales, not less than 50 per cent in favour of the rural development fund.
12. article. Exports of agricultural products export of agricultural products is not limited. Export promotion measures are used, which do not conflict with international norms.
13. article. Marketable agricultural production quality for agricultural products marketed in the country must comply with the applicable veterinary and phytosanitary rules and quality standards.
Chapter IV. State financial aid article 14. Credit policy (1) means that the State budget and State property privatisation Fund for agricultural production, and land mortgage market, are credited to the Latvian mortgage and land bank. Their use is determined by the Ministry of agriculture and the Latvian mortgage and land bank developed and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers regulations. Features to be used according to accepted public sectoral development programmes in the agricultural and related industries development lending.
(2) agricultural producers of the Cabinet of Ministers approved the national programme for the implementation of the most important long-term credits may be granted on preferential terms, offsetting the State budget the adverse factors, the ratio of partial subsidies from the State budget or deleting it after the goal.
(3) agricultural producers regardless of business type have the same rights to receive credit.
15. article. Public investment in agriculture (1) approved the State budget within the national investment in drainage, invest in acid soils, liming loop and Powerline, rural roads and other rural infrastructure reconstruction and construction, highly productive livestock, poultry, as well as crop varieties of culture shopping. Territorial and sectoral investment breakdown the project prepares the Ministry of agriculture, in consultation with industry and municipal representatives, and shall submit it for approval to the law "on budget and financial management".
(2) the allocation of public investment, priority be given to agricultural entrepreneurs and companies the object of which to finance construction means better agricultural production, promote new job creation and rural infrastructure development.
16. article. State appropriations and subsidies (1) internal and external market competitive agricultural production, breeding, variety, as well as for the maintenance of varieties and for the protection of cultural and regional gap in public support in the form of grants. These subsidies may not be less than three percent of annual budget total.
(2) agricultural development programme within the instruments provided for in the Cabinet of Ministers approved the most important national programmes, whose implementation used for subsidies, and determines the subsidy amount and the modalities.
(3) provides for a subsidy, the priority given to eligible non-agricultural industries and agricultural producers to increase efficiency and competitiveness.
(4) the approved State budget funds within the State funded research and training institutions, it needs the necessary redemption of land areas, financially support the farm animal, fish and plant breeding new varieties of crops, new technology and the development of machinery and other production development in the important agricultural science topics and projects, as well as veterinary supervision and care and State minimum and communal drainage system maintenance.
Chapter v. Agricultural producers protection article 17. Agricultural producers ' legal protection for agricultural producers defending the interests of the Ministry of agriculture has the right to the law "on insolvency of undertakings and companies" in the cases and in order to submit to the Court an application for processing the company declared insolvent.
18. article. Responsibility for settlement if the processing and marketing of agricultural products supply contracts are not settled within the time limits, are paid in arrears, and to pay the damages under the civil code and the law on the settlement of the unprocessed agricultural producers ".
19. article. The national regulatory authorities, responsibility for public functions (1) the Cabinet of Ministers is responsible for the development of agricultural policy.
(2) the Ministry of agriculture is responsible for the marketing of agricultural policy.
(3) under the Ministry of agriculture is a national organisation or supervision, exercising public functions in agriculture. Ministry of agriculture together with the parish municipality establishes a county agricultural service intended for the financing of the budget and the number of units of the State.
(4) the Ministry of agriculture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for all contracts, and other documents in the agricultural sector, the Republic of Latvia joining in international organisations or international treaties when closing.
(5) the Ministry of agriculture established the institutions of agricultural research, agricultural education, training, scientific research farm farm, breeding and experimental station, the number of territorial location and areas, tasks and functions of agricultural science, a new frame preparation and skills working in agriculture.
(6) specialized agricultural enterprises of the country land only for scientific purposes and secured land redeemed, on behalf of the Ministry of agriculture.
Chapter VI. Land use and conservation article 20. Land transformation (1) agricultural land transformation in the non-agricultural land is carried out with the permission of the Ministry of agriculture.
(2) forest lands in the transformation of agricultural land and agricultural land afforestation carried out mazpiemērot with the national forest service permit.
(3) the permission of land transformation summons Cabinet.
21. article. Agricultural land use, improvement and conservation of the national programme of agricultural land use, improvement and conservation of the Ministry of agriculture development, aligning them with the protection of the environment and regional development Ministry and including the relevant annual programme for the development of agriculture. National programmes approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
The Parliament adopted the law of 24 October 1996.
1996 in Riga on 8 November the President g. Ulmanis