agriculture and food economy in poland

AGRICULTURE
According to the Accession Treaty, agricultural producer groups (excluding fruit,
vegetable, mushroom and fish producers whose groups operate pursuant to subsector
arrangements) are entered in voivods’ registers and as from 1 May 2004 to 31
December 2006 they will receive financial assistance resulting from the measures of
the Rural Areas Development Plan.
Adopted on 16 November 2000, the Law establishing warehouses and amending
the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Proceedings and other laws (Dz. U. (OJ) No 114,
item. 1191) provides for the creation of new institutions – warehouses. It lays down
the rules of their operation and issuance of warehouse receipts and trade in such
receipts.
Based on contracts with the entities giving their commodities for storage,
warehouses store such goods and are authorised in certain circumstances to issue
securities – warehouse receipts. The objectives of this institution are:
– to improve and secure trade in commodities,
– to introduce a new basis for credit.
Warehouses are a significant factor in regulating trade in agri-food products.
They ensure the preservation of the commodity ownership, permitting at the same
time to make payments and to contract credits due to future sales of the stored
commodities. Regulations laying down the rules for establishment and supervision
of warehouses guarantee the proper operation of such institutions. The Minister
competent for agricultural markets is responsible for supervision of agricultural
goods warehouses.
By the end of June 2004 permission to operate warehouses was granted to 34
entities that have the total storage capacity of 455 000 t. The warehouses are
authorised to store cereal grains, rape seeds and papilionaceous plant seeds.
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