Conver gence Romania Financial Sector Moder nization

Transcription

1 Conver gence Romania Financial Sector Moder nization Spec ial Pr o j ec t s Init iat ive Publ ic -Pr ivat e St eer ing C o mmit t ee TERMS OF REFERENCE Project: Rural Lending (Warrants deposit certificates) Project Owner: Radu Negrea (on behalf of RBA) Project Manager: Marilena Popovici, director, Bancpost Deputy Project Manager: Aurica Stoica (Minister s Counselor, Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development) I- Background PROJECT WORKING GROUP (PWG) In Romania, agricultural lending represents a modest share of total bank loans, estimated in July 2004 at a mere 2.6% of the total bank loans above EUR 5,000 that were extended. The high transaction costs and risks are the main factors that affect the supply of credit in rural areas. One of the drawbacks perceived by banks in rural financing is lack of clarity of the legislation regulating the use of the ownership title (warrants-deposit certificates) for agricultural products. Initially regulated by a law from 1937, the regime of warrants - deposit certificates for crop inventories was further clarified between 2000 and 2003 in six legislative acts (Government Emergency Ordinance no. 56/2000 approved and modified by Law no. 39/2001; Government Emergency Ordinance no. 109/2000 approved by Law no. 657/2001; and Government Emergency Ordinance no. 141/2002 approved by Law no. 39/2003) and some additional methodological norms. The main provisions of the regulatory framework are: - the deposit certificates for crop inventories represent bearer negotiable titles, issued by depositaries in exchange of crop inventories deposited in the warehouses; - in order to issue deposit certificates, the depositaries have to be inspected and licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development or an authorized inspector, based on a verification of the depositary s compliance with the requirements for storing crop inventories; - the Deposit Certificates Guarantee Fund (DCGF) is established as a public institution, in order to guarantee the reimbursement of the crop inventories value as stated in the deposit certificates. The depositaries that have been licensed have to open a deposit in the account of the DCGF in an amount representing 0.5% of the market value of the stored crop inventories for which have been issued deposit certificates. The organization and functioning of the DCGF are established by its by-law, approved by 1

2 the Government following a proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development. So far, the implementation of the regulatory framework yielded poor results. DCGF has only been established on paper and no deposit certificates for crop inventories have been issued. Also, according to some authorized sources, only one depositary has been licensed to issue deposit certificates. According to other countries experience, lending against warrants-deposit certificates on cereals has the potential to increase commercial banks lending to agriculture, by reducing the credit risk, lowering transaction costs, and improving loan recovery. The value of cereals that are warehoused in one year (about EUR 900 million) can give an indication of the potential of rural lending based on warrants deposit certificates. II - Project Objective To prepare a set of specific recommendations ( secondary rules and regulations and technical and organizational implementation steps) on the measures needed to be undertaken by the competent authorities, market participants and other institutions in order to remove the existing roadblocks to the development of the agricultural warrantsbacked lending within acceptable risk parameters. III Intended Strategy The project management group (Project Owner, Project Manager, Deputy Project Manager, supported by the SPI Secretariat) acts based on the mandate received from the SPI Committee to prepare a set recommendations on the measures needed in order to remove the existing roadblocks to the development of the agricultural warrants-backed lending, including proposals for secondary rules and regulations, supported by a RIA of the proposed regulatory changes. The project management group (PMG) should gain a satisfactory understanding on the drawbacks perceived by various stakeholders in the application of the current legislation. The SPI Secretariat will provide a compilation of the existing legislation on the matter. PMG should hold preliminary meetings with representatives of the relevant organizations in order to get their views on the issues raised by the current legislation, as follows: - Organization of the Commercial Depositaries from Romania (Organizatia Depozitarilor Comercianti din Romania, ODCR): to acquire an understanding of incentives, costs and risks for obtaining the license to issue deposit certificates for crop inventories; - Ministry of Agriculture: to acquire an understanding of the perceived impediments on establishing the DCGF and the licensing process of depositaries. Likewise, PMG will meet with representatives of the banking industry and regulators in order to understand the implications and the risks of developing of a warrants-backed rural lending market: - rural areas regional bank managers: to outline the characteristics and risks of rural lending; 2

3 - RBA: to provide insights on the issues outlined in the discussions on the matter held so far within the RBA Technical Commissions; - PWG members from banks: to provide a perspective on the potential for increasing the lending to agriculture based on warrants deposits certificates, outlining the specificities of the lending process and procedures for this new business and the perceived risks and costs; - NBR: to provide a supervisory perspective on the ways in which agricultural lending backed by warrants deposits certificates could be kept within acceptable risk parameters. In order to outline the possible solutions, PM/DPM/SPI Secretariat will ask: - Rural Credit Guarantee Fund: to share its experience in terms of operating procedures and present its point of view on how the process of establishing the DCGF could be facilitated; - Ministry of Agriculture: to conceive a possible system of incentives for the depositaries to apply for licenses (improving the process of solving the requests from depositaries and other possible legal and practical stimulants). Based on the information gathered as described above, the SPI Secretariat will prepare an issues paper for PWG discussion. The project working group (PWG) will analyze the drawbacks perceived by various stakeholders in the application of the current legislation and will outline possible solutions to mitigate them, incorporating safety measures to ease the risk concerns of banking sector and regulators. These aspects will be outlined into an interim report to be presented to the SPI Committee in December Following the SPI Committee discussion of the interim report, the PWG will draw up a set of specific recommendations on the secondary rules and regulations and other organizational improvements needed to remove the existing roadblocks to the development of the agricultural warrants-backed lending, supported by a RIA of the proposed regulatory changes and benchmarking with existing international practices as provided by the SPI Secretariat. Likewise, the PWG will indicate the main technical implementation steps required by the proposed secondary rules and regulations. PM/DPM/SPI Secretariat will consult with relevant stakeholders on the feasibility of the proposed specific recommendations prepared by the PWG before finalizing the SPI Committee Actionable Report. IV- Methodology: from kick off to the accomplishment of the project Preparation of PWG 1 st meeting (PM/DPM and SPI Secretariat) - November (1-30) The project management group (PMG) will build a common understanding on the drawbacks perceived by various stakeholders in the application of the current legislation. The SPI Secretariat will prepare a compilation of the existing legislation on the matter. The PMG/SPI Secretariat will have preliminary meetings with the Organization of the Commercial Depositaries from Romania (to understand the incentives, costs and risks for obtaining the license to issue deposit certificates for crop inventories), with the Ministry 3

4 of Agriculture (to acquire an understanding of the perceived impediments on establishing the DCGF and the licensing process of depositaries), and with rural areas regional bank managers to discuss characteristics and risks of rural lending. PM/DPM/SPI Secretariat will also ask the RBA to provide insights on the issues outlined in the discussions on the matter held so far within the RBA Technical Commissions. PO/PM will send to the PWG members the SPI Committee Mandate Letter together with the following documents before the PWG 1 st meeting: 1. An issues paper prepared by the SPI Secretariat, based on the following information: a. the results of the interviews with the Organization of the Commercial Depositaries from Romania, the Ministry of Agriculture, the rural areas regional bank managers and the discussion with the RBA; b. Ministry of Agriculture: an overview on how it solves the requests received for licensing the depositaries to issue deposit certificates for crop inventories in the application of the law (outlining procedures for solving requests, number of requests received, number of requests solved, length of solving the requests and practical problems encountered in the application of the current legislation) and a proposal on (i) how the process of establishing the DCGF could be speed up and (ii) a possible system of incentives for the depositaries to apply for licenses (improving the process of solving the requests from depositaries and other feasible legal and practical incentives); c. Banks: a perspective on the potential for increasing the lending to agriculture based on warrants deposits certificates, outlining the specificities of the lending process and procedures for this new business and the perceived risks and costs; d. NBR: a supervisory perspective on the ways in which agricultural lending backed by warrants deposits certificates could be kept within acceptable risk parameters; e. Rural Credit Guarantee Fund: a document outlining its experience in terms of operating procedures and presenting its point of view on how the process of establishing the DCGF could be facilitated. 2. Draft TORs prepared by SPI Secretariat and endorsed by PO and PM/DPM. PWG 1st meeting - December (4-8) 1. PWG members discuss the issues paper prepared by the SPI Secretariat; 2. PWG members take stock of the drawbacks perceived by various stakeholders in the application of the current legislation; 3. PWG members outline possible solutions to overcome the difficulties perceived by various stakeholders in the application of the current legislation; 4. PWG members agree on a list of issues that can be addressed by issuing secondary rules and regulations; 5. PWG member from the Ministry of Public Finance provides an opinion on the proposed regulatory changes; 6. PWG members prepare an outline of the interim report to be presented in the SPI Committee to include an analysis of the drawbacks perceived by various stakeholders in the application of the current legislation and outline possible solutions to mitigate them, incorporating safety measures to ease the risk concerns of banking sector and regulators; 4

5 4. PWG members agree on TORs prepared by SPI Secretariat and endorsed by PO and PM/DPM; 5. PM/DPM establish homework for PWG members: PM/DPM/SPI Secretariat: prepare the interim report to be presented in the SPI Committee; SPI Secretariat: prepare a prepare a draft questionnaire for gathering needed data for RIA, based on the information on costs and risks received from the PWG members, to be discussed at the PWG 2nd meeting and prepare a compilation of relevant international laws; Each PWG member: prepare position documents on the technical and organizational implementation steps needed to efficiently enforce the proposed secondary rules and regulations. The individual contributions will be sent to the PM/DPM and SPI Secretariat. SPI Secretariat will prepare a centralized document on the technical and organizational implementation steps needed to efficiently enforce the proposed secondary rules and regulations to be circulated before the PWG 2 nd meeting, together with the compilation of relevant international laws. December 20 th, interim report presented for SPI Committee endorsement. PWG 2nd meeting - January (22-26) 1. PWG members take note of the SPI Committee endorsement of the interim report and discuss any suggestions received; 2. PWG members take note of existing relevant international practices; 3. PWG members agree on a specific set of recommendations on the secondary rules and regulations needed to remove the existing roadblocks to the development of the agricultural warrants-backed lending, in line with existing international practices; 4. PWG members will agree on the technical and organizational implementation steps needed to efficiently enforce the proposed secondary rules and regulations; 5. PWG members prepare an outline of a common position paper to include the recommendations on secondary regulations to be issued and technical and organizational implementation steps needed to remove the existing roadblocks to the development of the agricultural warrants-backed lending within acceptable risk parameters. 6. PWG members approve the RIA questionnaire; 7. PM/DPM establish homework for PWG members: PWG members: prepare specific sections of the common position paper as indicated by the PM/DPM; PM/DPM/SPI Secretariat: finalize the position paper to support the proposed recommendations based on consultations with relevant stakeholders on the proposed specific recommendations. PWG 3rd meeting - February (19-24) 1. PWG members discuss and approve the final position paper; 2. PWG members validate RIA findings; Homework: SPI Secretariat: integrate the RIA findings into the final document to be presented for SPI Committee endorsement. 5

6 V- Output PWG 1 st meeting o PWG members send individual contributions; o PWG members agree on a list of issues; o PWG members agree on possible solutions; o PM/DPM/ SPI Secretariat prepare interim report for SPI Committee. PWG 2 nd meeting o PWG members approve the RIA questionnaire; o PWG members agree on specific recommendations on the secondary rules; o PWG members agree on technical and organizational implementation steps; o PM/DPM/SPI Secretariat prepare position paper. PWG 3 rd meeting o PWG members approve position paper; o PWG members validate RIA findings; o SPI Secretariat sends SPI Committee Actionable Paper to Convergence. VI - Project Team The team is composed of: Ministry of Agriculture - Aurica Stoica Rural Credit Guarantee Fund - Ileana Bratu; Banks - Horatiu Şchiopu, RIB; - Adriana Blogu, RZB. National Bank of Romania - Dina Ilie Ministry of Public Finance - Victoria Mandru The team will be chaired by the Project Manager (a bank s manager) and co-chaired by the Deputy Project Manager (a manager from the Ministry of Agriculture). PM/DPM have to report to PO at least after each meeting of the PWG. 6

7 Convergence Romania Financial Sector Modernization Special Projects Initiative Public-Private Steering Committee Rural Lending SPI Committee meeting July 25, 2007 Project Objective: To prepare a set of specific recommendations ( secondary rules and regulations and technical and organizational implementation steps) on the measures that relevant authorities, market participants and other institutions could take to remove the existing roadblocks to the development of the agricultural warrants-backed lending within acceptable risk parameters. Project Working Group Activities PWG Members: 9 PWG Meetings: 5 Public stakeholders National Bank of Romania Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Public Finance Grading Commission Insurance Supervision Commission Private stakeholders Banking sector (2 banks) Guarantee Funds Farmers Depositaries Insurance companies Commodities Exchange Project Main Steps Jan. 07: PWG Strategy Meeting March 07: Appointment of Project Technical Anchor (TAN) and start of his onsite work March 07: PWG meeting to discuss on TAN s main findings May 07: PWG meeting to discuss on possible options and recommendation June 07: PWG prepared the necessary legal amendment proposals July 07: PWG meeting with MoA representatives Summary of Impact Assessment First full year (mln EUR) 1. Government: tax revenues* (0.5); 2. Banks: additional loans Borrowers: easier access to loans under better terms *=Levied on Banks higher net profits For more information, please contact: 1. SPI Secretariat: Ms. Ramona Bratu, Ms. Oana Nedelescu tel: ; e- mail: ramona.bratu@convergence-see.eu; oana.nedelescu@convergence-see.eu 2. Project Management Group: Mr. Radu Negrea (Project Owner), General Secretary, RBA, tel: ; 1

8 Project Team Project Management Group Project Owner (PO): Radu Negrea, RBA Board Member Project Manager (PM): Claudiu Nicula, Manager, Raiffeisen Bank Deputy Project Manager (DPM): Aurica Stoica, Director, Ministry of Agriculture Project Working Group Veronica Toncea, President, Rural Credit Guarantee Fund Dumitru Sandulescu, Head of Department, Romanian Stock Exchange Adrian Sorescu, Director, Romanian Stock Exchange Viorel Marin, President, National Grading Commission Stefan Florescu, Director, Cargill Romania Dana Ilie, expert, National Bank of Romania Adrian Răducan, Manager, Raiffesen Bank România SPI Project Technical Anchor Les Clarke Individual and Collective Contributions This document has been prepared based on the following contributions: Individual TAN: Report on the WDCs system PM: input on the draft document Dana Ilie: prudential point of view on lending based on WDCs Veronica Toncea: Project statute for the Indemnity Fund Viorel Marin: draft amendment proposals for EOG 141/2002 and amendment proposal to the Government Decision establishing the National Grading Commission. Input on the draft document. Collective Discussions within the PWG meetings and discussions with the Ministry of Agriculture representatives. Document cleared by: Project Owner (Radu Negrea, RBA) 2

9 TABLE OF CONTENT Abstract 1. Benefits of the warrants-deposit certificate system 1.1. Benefits of the WDCs system for farmers 1.2. Benefits for depositories 1.3. Benefits for banks 1.4. Benefits for insurers 1.5. Benefits for the Romanian Commodity Exchange 1.6. Main RIA findings on the benefits of the WDCs system 2. Possible options for making the Romanian warrants deposit certificates system working 3. Recommendations 4. SPI Committee Proposed Decision Annexes Annex 1 - Overall WDC Reform Program Implementation Responsibilities Annex 2 - The proposed Ministry of Agriculture-led legal and regulatory implementation plan Annex 3 - Current situation of the Romanian warrants-deposit certificates system Annex 4 - International experience with warrants deposit certificates system Annex 5 - Possible options for making the Romanian warrants deposit certificates system working Annex 6 Draft amendment proposals for EOG 141/2002 Annex 7 Amendment proposal to the Government Decision establishing the National Grading Commission Annex 8 Draft by-laws of the Indemnity Fund. 3

10 Document prepared by SPI Secretariat Ramona Bratu, SPI Director of Bank Products and Services Abstract According to other countries experience, lending against warrants-deposit certificates on cereals has the potential to increase commercial banks lending to agriculture, by reducing the credit risk, lowering transaction costs, and improving loan recovery. The estimations performed by Convergence show that, based on the deposit certificates, loans to agriculture could register an aggregate increase of about EUR 560 million over a 4- year period, with EUR 104 million in the first year. The present document intends to draw attention on the benefits of the lending based on warrants-deposit certificates, on the obstacles that prevent the Romanian WDCs system from working properly and on the possible solutions, and to outline the PWG recommendation for the solution to be adopted. The main elements of the WDC system revamping, which are largely of self regulatory nature, cover several functional areas, as follows: - enforcing the negotiability of the WDCs through: o value items o market prices indications o an electronic register of the WDCs issued; - outsourcing part of the licensing and inspection activities; - establishing an indemnity fund financed initially from the state budget and exclusively from the depositories contributions beginning with the forth year; - raising the producers awareness. The document is based on the study performed by the Convergence-appointed foreign expert on the PWG individual contributions and discussions within the PWG meetings. 1. Benefits of the warrants-deposit certificate system 1.1. Benefits of the WDCs system for farmers A functional WDCs system would allow farmers to sell their crops for a better price because they could finance their inventory until the sale time by raising WDCs-based loans. These loans would be at lower costs and with a higher loan-to-collateral ratio than other borrowings, due to lower risk attached. By covering their short-term liquidity needs with loans based on WDCs, farmers fixed assets would in turn be free to be pledged, thus enlarging their access to loans for development Benefits for depositories By facilitating the storage of grain for longer periods by farmers and third party grain traders, the depositories would earn better storage fees for the silos. The loans based on WDCs issued for their own grain stocks would allow a decrease in the financing costs and a better loan-to-collateral ratio. The confidence built by the licensing and 4

11 inspection parts of the WDCs system would bring for the qualified depositories benefits in terms of increased business volumes, lower insurance premiums and would contribute to lowering the costs of all financing Benefits for banks Agricultural lending on grains, with the added protection of the WDCs system, would offer a potential for increasing in the volume of short term lending with good risk mitigation. This would allow banks a higher penetration in the rural market with a chain effect of developing the medium term development lending based on the fixed assets of the farmers and depositories Benefits for insurers The storage of grain for longer periods and in larger quantities, permitted by the use of WDCs, would result in higher demand for insurance cover for grain in silos. As more innovation develops in the Romanian insurance market and as the WDCs would offer background for increased confidence, the insurers could consider the idea of issuing indemnity bonds covering the depositories performance risk Benefits for the Romanian Commodity Exchange A functional WDCs system has the potential to increase the volume of transactions at the Romanian Commodity Exchange, to improve the market liquidity and to offer relevant market quotations, under better risk conditions (due to the securities offered by the Indemnity Fund) Main RIA findings on the benefits of the WDCs system The main findings of the calculations performed on this basis were that thanks to a viable WDC framework, farmers would be able to sell their wheat production at a better price; this would allow them to get 116 million EUR over 5-year time as net present value of incremental cash flow. At the end of the considered time span, the incremental cash flow accrued would increase the bank lending available to farmers by 100%, to EUR 559 million in a 4 years aggregated amount, with EUR 104 million in the first year. 2. Possible options for making the Romanian warrants deposit certificates system working Based on the current situation of the WDCs system in Romania (Annex 3) and on the benchmark set out by the international experience in this area (Annex 4), measures have to be taken in order to have a functioning and trustable WDCs system in Romania by: - ensuring that WDCs are freely negotiable, that are issued for a significant quantity of cereals and that there is a body maintaining a clear evidence of them; - having a trustful licensing system; - setting up an inspection system to oversee the correct grading and depositing of cereals; 5

12 - providing immediate liquidity to lenders in case of debtor failure through the indemnity fund; - establishing a liquid cereal market with relevant quotations for the market value. The usefulness of the WDCs has to be brought to the attention of the main beneficiaries the farmers so that they could exercise the market pressure on the apparently less interested parties the depositories. There are two possible options to make the WDCs system working: the public option and the private option. The public option (Annex 5) is the one provided by the current legal framework that would need some minor changes and a greater determination for implementation on the MoA side. Assessment of the feasibility of this option needs to take into account the MoA s partial implementation of the legal framework caused by limited human and technical capabilities. The private option (Annex 5) would have to replicate the system initially conceived as public, with minor changes in the secondary regulations, and based on the stakeholders convergence of interests and efforts, and on a set of incentives and constraints. The private option faces two major challenges: how to reliably record a) market prices and b) accurate values on the WDCs. As there is no cereal market, the indications on the market prices can be provided only by traders. A private system has limited possibility to have nation-wide information in order to determine relevant and reliable figures on the market prices. The WDCs recording could be accurate and reliable only in case it starts with an inventory of the operational capacities and of the stocks of cereals at a certain date for all the warehouses (licensed for functioning). For solving the two crucial issues, the MoA has to be involved; the already existing or the future operational, staffing and reporting facilities within the Grading Commission and the future Indemnity Fund could be used by MoA in order to facilitate the necessary interventions. 3. Recommendations Taking into consideration the above mentioned considerations, the PWG is of the opinion that, on balance, the private option is preferable to the public option, provided that the MoA plays a complementary role as indicated above. To address the potential inadequacy of MoA s resources that could delay the implementation of the necessary measures, the PWG recommends drawing on the Grading Commission and Indemnity Fund existing or future structure and capabilities. Banks, Romanian Commodities Exchange and insurers should also cooperate with MoA for ensuring the achievement of the WDCs system s objectives (Annex 5). Annex 1 presents a summary of the project working group recommendations. The SPI Committee s suggestion is that the Indemnity Fund s role is covered through enlarging the current activity of the existing Rural Credit Guarantee Fund. 6

13 Following is the sequence of steps as envisaged by the PWG: Action Estimated time Description PRIVATE SECTOR PREPARATORY ACTIONS Upgrading WDCs June 2007 Banks, NGC, RCE, RCGF and depositories agreed on the minimum WDC informational content and prepared respective amendment proposals WDC Register June 2007 Banks, NGC, RCE, RCGF and depositories formulated the proposal to amend the law so as to provide that the Indemnity Fund be entrusted with the register Licensing procedure June 2007 Banks, NGC, RCE, RCGF and depositories prepared the law amendment proposal according to which the verification of the compliance be placed with NGC and Indemnity Fund Inspection system June 2007 Banks, NGC, RCE, RCGF and depositories formulated the amendment proposals for entrusting the inspection and controlling activities with NGC and Indemnity Fund Indemnity Fund June 2007 Banks, NGC, RCE, RCGF and depositories prepared the law amendment proposal regarding the Indemnity Fund financing RCGF formulated a proposal for the Government Decision establishing the Fund SPI Committee suggested the role of the indemnity fund is covered by enlarging RCGF activity. WDC REFORM LAUNCH SPI Committee July 2007 endorsement of the PWG proposals MoA general endorsement of WDC Reform Package September 2007 Reply to SPI Committee correspondence 7

14 PRIVATE SECTOR ACTIONS Upgrading WDCs Early 2008 NGC formulates the regulatory amendment for changing the monthly reporting in order to obtain realistic market price indications Early 2008 RCE provides information on the term contracts June 2008 NGC and Indemnity Fund support the inventory action Licensing system March 2008 Banks provide input on the licensing criteria Indemnity Fund RCE WDC trading facilities Raising awareness on WDCs benefits September 2007 December 2007 March 2008 NGC provides the study on the necessary financing for the Indemnity Fund; banks, RCGF, RCE revises the assumptions and calculations Banks, RCGR, RCE delineate IF institutional, financial and organizational arrangements RCE, banks and brokers discuss how to design trading facilities Banks, NGC, RCE and depositories to take active part in the MoA led campaign MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE ACCOMPANYING ACTIONS Issuance of the law Early MoA promotes the initiative in the Government amendment 2008 Issuance of Ordinances March 2008 MoA promotes the initiatives in the Government establishing the Indemnity Fund and on the Grading Commission activities Amendment of March 2008 MoA prepares the Minister s orders secondary regulations Inventory of stocks June 2008 MoA approves the action plan and ask depositories to report Raising awareness on WDCs benefits MoA designs and runs, with private sector active support, a national campaign This table shows the actions already taken by the private sector and its remaining interventions as well as the punctual involvement of the Ministry of Agriculture. The private sector preparatory actions are evidenced by the package of regulation proposals prepared by the PWG, as follows: Annex 6- Proposals to modify EOG 141/2002, Annex 7 Amendment proposal to the Government Decision establishing the National Grading Commission, Annex 8 Draft by-laws of the Indemnity Fund. 4. Proposed SPI Committee Decision SPI Committee sends the endorsed proposals on the possibilities of revamping the warrants-deposit certificates system prepared by the PWG to the Ministry of Agriculture, asking for a rapid identification of the solutions acceptable to all the interested parties and their committed implementation. 8

15 Summary of PWG recommendations Annex 1 WDCs: MoA should be suggested to amend the current regulatory framework in respect of: a) the compulsory content of the WDC (for showing the commercial parameters), in consultation banks and RCE in order make sure that they are comfortable with the descriptive items and b) allowing depositories to issue WDC for their own deposits (by deleting the reference to the deposit contract) for stimulating WDC issuance. In order to facilitate its role, MoA could amend the legislation and entrust the maintenance of an evidence to a third party the Indemnity Fund that is the most interest part in having an accurate register of the issued WDC that are covered by it. The existence of an electronic register, accessible on line, would facilitate the lending and transacting activities. For organizing the WDC register, MoA could organize a stock and capacity inventory on a certain date (June 1 st or 10 th ). An idea for obtaining the market price indications is to amend the secondary regulations in order to facilitate the monthly reporting by depositories to the National Grading Commission of the average transaction prices (for the market price indications). RCE could also provide information on the term contracts (quotations of the Hungarian exchange could be used as reference); Licensing system: as it is possible that MoA may not have the staff and technical capabilities to organize the verification of the applications for licensing, it is suggested that the MoA externalizes the checking activities for insuring the compliance with the technical requirements to GC and for financial requirements to IF. GC has the qualified staff in order to verify the compliance with eligibility technical criteria and IF will cover bankruptcy risk, therefore it is in its interest to know and analyze the financial standing of the depositories. Banks and insurance companies to be consulted on the licensing criteria so that they feel comfortable with the soundness of the system. Under the context of changed provisions for the Indemnity Fund, licensing could be maintained as voluntary Inspection system: MoA could assign the inspection mission for grading and licensing purposes to the Grading Commission (that has the qualified staff to perform these activities) for the technical issues, while the the indemnity Fund should follow periodically the financial situation of the licensed depositories; Indemnity fund: an indemnity fund should function in order to secure all the WDCs issued (to facilitate their use as collateral and especially their transacting on the Romanian Commodities Exchange), covering the risks of nonperformance, bankruptcy and liquidity. MoA should issue regulations for the Fund s establishing and functioning. In order not to increase the cost of deposit services and of the crediting in the first phase and to enable its establishment, the fund should be financed for the first three years out of budgetary sources. After this starting period, the financing should be made exclusively from the depositories contributions. The regulation establishing the Indemnity Fund should provide the supervisory body for the fund and the level of the depositories contributions; 9

16 Romania Commodity Exchange: under this scenario, RCE would be comfortable with transacting WDCs and would not ask anymore for guarantees in order to accept buying/selling orders for cereals; Awareness on the benefits of the WDCs system: all the involved parties could joint efforts in a national campaign. The implementation process could take about one year, but the implementation stages might have immediate effects on the utilization of WDCs; this assumption is based on the fact that even now banks grant loans based on WDCs, although not at a system level. The potential increase in the WDCs-based lending during implementation of the proposed measures is illustrated in the below picture. PWG met MoA representatives on July 12 in order to present for MoA consideration the proposals prepared for revamping the WDC system. MoA representatives received positively the proposals and showed interest in reviewing them. In respect of the technical issues, an agreement and solutions could be easily reached and the MoA could modify the regulatory framework accordingly. On the Indemnity Fund financing, MoA representatives expressed concerns related to the pressures on the state budget and outlined the need to prioritize the allocations taking into account the objective of supporting the producers to lower their costs and thus to develop their business. Under these circumstances, a co-financing solution, involving the depositories and/or other contributors, would be more suitable in the current context. MoA will form an internal PWG, gathering representatives of all involved departments (legal, economic, budget, rural development, etc), in order to analyze in depth the proposals and to formulate MoA position. 10

17 Implementation process illustrative potential impact on cereals case Loans on WDCs (mln. RON) July 2007 Allocation in the state budget for IF MoA approval of the SPI Comm. proposals Aug-07 Application of new legal provisions;operation of IF Inventory of stocks and operational capacity Enactment of Gov. Decision to establish IF Issuance of amendments to legislation Sep-07 October November 2007 December 2007 January 2007 February March 2008 Apr-08 May 2008 June 2008 Jul-08 Main implementation steps Source:SPI Secretariat analysis curent strengthening of the situation WDC negotiability establishement of licensing system evidence system The projections are based on the following assumptions: - under the current situation, some banks started their own WDCs lending system, with a limited number of selected depositories, but of important value, under repurchase agreements. The estimated amount of the loans based on the limited WDCs clubs is of RON 15 million. This kind of WDCs mini-systems have an important potential to grow; - a first phase of the action plan is strengthening the WDC negotiability which would result in an increase of banks confidence on the titles and a growth in the loan-tovalue ratio. This could generate a gradual increase in WDC lending up to RON 70 million in about 6 months; - the second main phase, the establishment of the licensing system, would result in the increase of the number of depositories eligible to be selected under the limited schemes. At the same time, the amendments to the legal framework will allow depositories to issue WDCs on their own deposits. This would allow banks to replace the classical form of collateralizing the loans with pledges on inventories or with - mortgages with WDCs, under the special conditions mentioned above. The increased confidence in depositories, given by the selection performed by trustful institutions as the National Grading Commission and the Indemnity Fund, and the larger basis of 11

18 application could double the loans on WDCs up to RON 140 million. The projection could show even higher figures if this was happening after the crop season; - the third main phase, the establishment of an accurate evidence system, could mark the boom in the WDCs market as it would coincide with the harvest time (June July). The transparency and security brought by this last phase will mark the full implementation of a comprehensive WDCs system in which all banks concerns will be address, therefore the loans based on WDCs could get to about RON 300 million - the national campaign for raising awareness on the WDCs benefits is started by the end of this year. Annex 2 details the proposed Ministry of Agriculture-led legal and regulatory implementation plan having as background the work already performed by the private sector and enabling to have the WDCs system functional in one year time span. 12

19 Annex 2 The proposed Ministry of Agriculture-led legal and regulatory implementation plan Action Details Estimated time SPI Committee will send a End July letter to the Minister of 2007 Agriculture asking for proposals approval SPI Committee endorsement of the PWG proposals MoA approves the proposals MoA initiates the process of amending the legal framework MoA leads the enactment process Parliament/Government approves the law amendment proposals Government issues the Ordinance establishing the Indemnity Fund Government issues the Ordinance on the Grading Comission s activities MoA amends other secondary legislation Indemnity Fund starts operating Grading Commission organizes the implementation of the new responsibilities MoA leads the inventory of stocks MoA could send a reply to the SPI Committee letter on the approval of the proposals MoA could prepare the enactment package for the law amendment proposals MoA sends the law amendment /law proposals to MEF and to MoJ for endorsement. MEF includes the necessary amount for Indemnity Fund in the state budget for 2008 The amendments to the law will enable the strengthening of WDCs negotiability by improving the value indications on the titles. MoA will initiate and support the proposal to be approved by Government, based on the approved law amendment. MoA will modify accordingly the regulations or will release Minister s orders to complete the necessary changes. MoA will be able to issue the first licenses for depositories. Licensed depositories will issue WDCs under the new framework Grading Commission and Indemnity Fund will coordinate actions with depositories. September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 Early 2008 March 2008 June 2008 June 2008 Market action Banks could develop strategies for the potential new product and market Banks could develop plans on the implementation of the new product. Banks could outline the internal process for lending on WDCs. Banks confidence in WDCs will increase, therefore they could grow the loan-tovalue ratio. Banks could start implementing the new internal procedures. Banks will have new product fully operational. Banks could ensure they have on-line access to the electronic register. 13

20 Current situation of the Romanian warrants-deposit certificates system Annex 3 From a legal and regulatory standpoint, Romania has a suitable framework to introduce a working WDCs system. However, there are some drawbacks that prevent the WDCs system to function, coming either from the lack of completeness of the regulations or from their poor implementation: a. WDCs are the ownership titles on the deposits, showing also the deposits values; their use, together with the warrants, facilitate lending and transactions. The confidence of the lenders and buyers in these papers is crucial. At present, while the WDC s content is regulated and the warehouses are supposed to issue WDCs based on the deposit contracts, there is however no explicit permission for warehouses to issue WDC for their own deposits. The regulations do not provide all the items that should be written on the face of the title (such as the gluten content for wheat) in order to have a more accurate indication of the value. Another item of utmost importance for the value of these titles is the market price that should have been provided by the MoA. In lack of a cereal market (within Romanian Commodities Exchange there are carried out only individual transactions, with no significant value), another system for obtaining realistic market prices should be in place. The legal framework establishes that an evidence system is to be organized by the MoA for the WDCs issued. b. Licensing system is necessary in order to cover the risk related to the depositors (bankruptcy and performance risks) and it is meant to contribute to building the confidence in WDC. The licensing system is to be established within MoA (since 2002) and foresees voluntary licensing for the warehouses that are issuing WDCs. Until now no license has been issued. c. Grading system provides quality standards for the deposits, enhancing the confidence in their values and the maintenance of the values (through the inspection system). The Grading Commission is established and functioning and provides training and licensing services for the grading experts, based on the grading standards. Until now, no inspection system has been established by the MoA in order to control the observance of the grading standards. d. Indemnity Fund will provide coverage for the risk of fraud and bankruptcy and, also, is a source of immediate liquidity, to replace a non-existent market. The establishment of the indemnity fund is provided by the law, but no government decision has been issued in the application of the legal provision. The law states that the funding sources are to be extra budgetary, coming from the contributions of the warehouses that are issuing WDC. Regarding the awareness on the benefits of the WDC system, only individual and limited initiatives have been taken, while no national campaign has been promoted. Producers are not aware of the financial benefits brought by WDC system; they need information on the prices, on the net positive result in case they deposit their crops waiting for higher market prices and covering their liquidity needs through loans based on WDCs. They are not always aware of the warehouses legal obligations and of their legal rights. 14

21 Annex 4 International experience with warrants deposit certificates system A study performed in 2003 on the WDC programs in various countries by the United Nations and EBRD outlined that since the mid 90s, WDCs have been introduced in a number of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. A number of components need to be in place: a functioning cereals market, an adequate legislation and law enforcement tools and mechanisms, credit institutions able and willing to invest into grain inventories and support by the key players in the cereals industry. The key factors for a successful WDCs system refer to: legal framework - the presence of a legal framework and effective law enforcement is the key component for the emergence and successful performance of any national grain-financing program; institutions - there must be an authoritative grain silo oversight agency or licensing and inspection body, trusted by all market participants, and with workable procedures; education and information of the farmers regarding the benefits of the scheme; grading system; licensing system - In most CEE and CIS countries the commercial silo industry has been highly monopolistic, even after the move to the market economy, and the incentive for silos to be voluntarily licensed may be weak. In some countries an incentive for the public silos has been offered in the form of allocating the right to licensed silos alone to keep cereal stocks under the state intervention schemes, e.g. in Hungary and Slovakia; performance guarantee system - there are numerous pros and cons of using indemnity funds versus bonding in each country. In CEE countries, the establishment of indemnity funds may be the only realistic start-up mechanism for customer protection and satisfaction of claims. One simple reason to launch the indemnity fund may be the lack of classical bonding procedures in the country s legislation, or a lack of insurance market sophistication preventing insurers from providing bond cover. In Bulgaria, the Law on Grain Warehouse Receipts was approved in autumn The WDCs system has been in place since According to national statistics, the number of licensed public silos increased from 5 in 1999 to 42 in 2003; their total licensed capacity amounted to 4.6 million tones. Local banks provide credits to farmers and traders against the silo receipts issued by the licensed grain silos. The volume of loans disbursed against silo receipts increased from the equivalent of US$300 thousand in 1999 to US$6.5 million in 2002 and US$5.9 million as of May The average Hungarian grain harvest is 10 to 14 million tones. Hungary was the first CEE country to introduce WDCs in In that year three large grain elevators were licensed as public silos. The licensed public silos sublease additional independent storage facilities in the countryside to increase the capacity for storage. The State Intervention Agency is using silo receipts issued by public silos as the main tool of government intervention on the grain market. The program works fairly well and about 4 million tones of grain pass annually through the public silos with substantial bank credit being made available against issued silo receipts The bank credits disbursed against grain silo receipts represent a value equal to about half of total annual Hungarian on-farm investment. In Poland in 2002, 20 private sector grain silos with a total storage capacity of 284 thousand tones started procurement and storage operations, operating on the basis of a law passed in Some 184 thousand tones of grains were stored under contracts with the Agricultural Market Agency (ARR) and 1,014 silo receipts were issued in this start-up stage. By the end of 2003 there were expected to be up to 35 grain silos working with WDCs, all licensed by the Minister for Agriculture with total storage capacity of 0.5 million tones, approximately one tenth of the grain marketed annually in the country. 15

22 Revamping of the WDC system Annex 5 1. Warrants-deposit certificates (WDC) DC is the ownership title on the deposit, showing also the deposit value; its use, together with the warrant, facilitates lending and transaction. The confidence of the lenders and buyers in these papers is crucial. Current status - content regulated - warehouses are supposed to issue WDC based on the deposit contracts Shortfalls/ weaknesse s -not all value items are compulsory -no evidence organized for the issued WDC -no indication on the market price provided - no explicit permission for warehouses to issue WDC for their own deposits Policy objectives - to have negotiable WDCs - to have WDCs issued for an important quantity of cereals - to have a clear evidence of the WDCs issued Private initiatives Banks, in cooperation with the Grading Commission and RCE, to set up compulsory content for WDC backing loans -Banks to set up in the financing rules the possibility of lending to ware-houses based on the WDC issued for their own deposits (to replace the current lending based on pledge) -Banks to organize a common register for the WDC issued -Commodities Exchange to provide indications on term contracts -Banks to ask MA opinion on the compulsoriness of having a deposit contract for WDC issuing Arguments/ comments A private initiative led by the main stakeholders should be more efficient. The weak points of the private initiative is the impossibility of having information on the market prices and accurate information on the stocks and WDC. Public initiatives -MoA to amend the current regulatory framework in respect of the compulsory content of the WDC (for showing the commercial parameters) -MoA to amend the secondary regulation by deleting the reference to the deposit contract -MoA to organize the evidence system for the WDC issued, as currently provided by the law -MoA to provide the market prices Arguments comments Although MoA should easily change the secondary regulation, the enactment of a law amendment is a long process. The legal framework enacted 5 years ago has not been implemented until now. PWG recommendation -MoA to amend the current regulatory framework in respect of the compulsory content of the WDC (for showing the commercial parameters). Banks and RCE to be consulted. -MoA to amend the secondary regulation in order to allow depositorie to issue WDC for their own deposits, by deleting the reference to the deposit contract -MoA to amend the secondary regulations in order to entrust the maintenance of an evidence to a third party - GF, for example. Banks and RCE to be consulted on the evidence requirements. - An idea for obtaining the market price indications, in case MoA needs, is to amend the secondary regulations in order to facilitate the monthly reporting by depositories to the GC of the average transaction prices (for the market price indications) - For organizing the WDC register, MoA could organize a stock and capacity inventory on a certain date (June 1 st or 10 th ). RCE to provide information on the term contracts (quotations of the Hungarian exchange could be used as reference) Arguments/ comments Through some changes in the secondary regulations, MoA could entrust GF the registrer for WDCs.. The indications on the market prices could be obtained by aggregating the data monthly reported by depositors to GC (they already send monthly reports to GC). By consulting banks and RCE, their confidence in the WDC s value and validity would increase. The existence of an electronic register, accessible on line, would facilitate the lending and transacting activities. 16

23 2. Licensing system Licensing system is necessary in order to cover the risk related to the depositors (the bankruptcy risk and the performance risk) and it is meant to contribute to building the confidence in WDC. Current status -Licensing system to be established within MoA (since 2002) -Voluntary licensing Shortfalls/ Weaknesses - The licensing system is not established - No license has been issued Policy objectives - to have a trustful licensing system functioning Private initiatives -Banks, in cooperation with the Grading Commission, RCE and insurance companies to set up eligibility criteria/financial and technical standards for warehouses in order to accept the WDC issued by them -Banks, in cooperation with the Grading Commission, to establish a private institution/to habilitate an existing institution to act as selecting body for the eligible Arguments/ comments The private initiative is based on creating the incentives and constraints for the players through the system rules. Public initiatives -MoA to re-appoint the Licensing Com-mission -MoA to establish a specialized dept. to act as the Commission technical secretariat -MoA to issue rules and norms for the Commission s activity -MoA to issue instructions on the financial and technical conditions for Licensing -MoA to change the regulatory framework in order to state the compulsory licensing -MoA to habilitate individuals and companies for ex ante and ex post evaluations -MoA to amend the regulations in order to provide biannual evaluations Arguments/ comments Licensing was initially and for a very short period of time compulsory, but changed to voluntary because of the eligibility criteria and of the contributions to be paid to the Fund. The public option relies on the hypothesis that the MoA will take belated steps to implement the law provisions and to amend the law in order to make the licensing compulsory and that has the human and technical capability to act. PWG recommendation MoA to amend the legal framework in order to share the licensing responsibilities with GC and GF: GC to verify the compliance with the technical requirements and Gf to verify the compliance with the financial ones. Banks and insurance companies to be consulted on the licensing criteria. Licensing to be voluntary under the context of changed provisions for the Indemnity Fund. Arguments/ comments GC has the qualified staff in order to verify the compliance with eligibility technical criteria. GF will cover the bankruptcy risk, therefore it is in its interest to know and analyze the financial standing of the depositories. 17

24 3. Grading system The grading system provides quality standards for the deposits, enhancing the confidence in their values and the maintenance of the values (through the inspection system) Current Shortfalls/ Policy Private Arguments/ Public Arguments/ PWG Arguments/ status -Grading Commission established and functioning -grading standards in place -training and licensing the grading experts weaknesses -no inspection system established by the MoA objectives - to set up an inspection system to oversee the correct grading and depositing of cereals initiatives Banks, in cooperation with GC, RCE and insurance companies to establish a private institution/to habilitate an existing institution to act as the inspection body comments The inspection activities are required by the licensing, grading, lending and guaranteeing areas, therefore having a single operator for all of them seems to be efficient Banks could also outsource the inspection activity by contracting a specialized institution, observing NBR requirements. As the inspection activities are not on a daily basis and require special qualifications, by organizing a single inspection body, banks could share costs. initiatives MoA to establish an inspection system comments MoA could face budget and staff constraints when organizing the inspection system. recommendation MoA could use the Gc services for the technical inspection. comments GC has the qualified staff to perform these activities. 18

25 4. Indemnity (Guarantee) Fund - GF The indemnity fund will provide coverage for the risk of fraud and, also, is a source of immediate liquidity, to replace a non-existent market. Current status Shortfalls/ weaknesses Policy objectives Private initiatives Arguments/ comments Public initiatives Arguments/ comments PWG recommendation Arguments/ comments -provided by the law -fund sources extra budgetary (from the contributio ns of the warehouses issuing WDC) - Indemnity Fund not established -risks covered not very well defined - to provide security to lenders and immediate liquidity in case of debtor failure A flexible scheme could be imagined, in which only banks with a more conservative credit risk strategy establish the fund and indemnity bonds are issued only for high risk warehouses. -Banks willing to cover the warehouses performance risk to establish the Fund as shareholders and to finance its functioning, to establish its supervisory body and internal rules or -Insurance companies to issue insurance policies covering warehouses performance risk -MoA to issue regulations for the Fund s establishing and functioning -MoA/MoEF to grant a loan for/to finance the initial establishment and functioning of the fund and to initiate a law amendment in this respect -MoA/MoEF to appoint a supervisory body for the fund MoA will have to promote a Government decision in order to establish the Fund. Depositors will have to contribute to it and the cost of the warehouses services will increase. In case a loan from the state is involved, a change in the current law and a special law for the loan are needed. -MoA to issue regulations for the Fund s establishing and functioning The Fund to cover all WDC -Funding sources for the Fund: - budgetary, for the first 3 years and - extra-budgetary starting with the forth year, exclusively from the depositories contributions -The government decision establishing GF should provide also the supervision institution and should set up the level of the depositories contributions. - GF should have responsibilities in analyzing the financial standing of the depositories before licensing and periodically. This scheme would mitigate the opposition of depositors to issue WDCs because of the contributions they have to pay to the fund. The contributions to the fund would be reflected in the charges for depositing services, therefore imposing them since the beginning would be a disincentive to use WDC.The indemnity should generate the decrease in the lending costs. 19

26 Current status -no significant volume of cereals trading -only individual transactions carried out Shortfalls/ weaknesses -no market for cereals Policy objectives -to have a liquid cereal market -to have quotations for the market value 5. Romanian Commodities Exchange Romanian Commodities Exchange will be the market for transactions with WDC. Private Arguments/ Public Arguments/ PWG initiatives comments initiatives comments recommendation WDC s possessor to sell them at RCE Once the confidence in WDCs created, these could be easily transacted at RCE. Once the confidence in WDCs created, these could be easily transacted at RCE. WDC s possessor to sell them at RCE and RCE not to ask guarantees for entering into a transaction. Arguments/ comments RCE will be comfortable with transacting WDC and will not ask for guarantees. A more flexible scheme could be imagined, in which only banks with a more conservative credit risk strategy establish the fund and indemnity bonds are issued only for high risk warehouses. 6. Awareness on the benefits of the WDC system Producers are not aware of the financial benefits brought by WDC system; they need information on the prices, on the net positive result in case they deposit their crops waiting for higher market prices and covering their liquidity needs through loans based on WDCs. -only individual and limited initiatives -farmers and other depositors are not aware of the WDC benefits -farmers are selling their crops to warehouses at small prices -farmers are not aware of the warehouses legal obligations and of their legal rights raise awareness on the benefits of borrowing against WDCs -raise awareness on the legal provisions - Banks to lead a national campaign The gathering of all forces in a national public-private campaign could be more efficient. MoA to lead a national campaign The gathering of all forces in a national public-private campaign could be more efficient. MoA, GC, RCE, GF and banks to organize a nation-wide campaign This kind of campaign could be more effective and efficient in respect of results and resources. 20

27 Anexa 6 Proposals to modify EOG 141/2002 (available in Romanian only) Propunere de modificare OUG 141/2002 cu modificarile si completarile ulterioare OUG nr. 141 / 2002 aprobata prin LEGEA nr. 149/2003 privind reglementarea depozitarii semintelor de consum, regimul certificatelor de depozit pentru acestea si constituirea Fondului de garantare pentru certificatele de depozit CAPITOLUL I Dispozitii generale Art. 1 - Prezenta ordonanta de urgenta reglementeaza modul de acordare a licentei de depozit, regimul certificatelor de depozit pentru semintele de consum si constituirea Fondului de garantare pentru certificatele de depozit. Art. 2 - Pentru garantarea integritatii semintelor de consum depozitate se instituie un sistem pentru acordarea licentelor de depozit si de gradare a semintelor de consum si se constituie Fondul de garantare pentru certificatele de depozit, in conditiile prezentei ordonante de urgenta. Art. 3 - (1) Ministerul Agriculturii si Dezvoltarii Rurale, si Dezvoltarii Rurale denumit in continuare ministerul de resort, reprezinta autoritatea publica responsabila cu acordarea licentelor de depozit si autorizarea gradatorilor pentru semintele de consum, in conditiile prezentei ordonante de urgenta. (2) Operatorii economici care au in proprietate sau in administrare unul sau mai multe depozite autorizate conform ordonantei de urgenta a Guvernului nr.12/2006 privind stabilirea unor masuri de reglementare a pietei pe filiera cerealelor si a produselor procesate din cereale pot solicita in scris acordarea licentei de depozit. Art. 4 - In sensul prezentei ordonante de urgenta, termenii si expresiile mentionate mai jos sunt definite astfel: a) seminte de consum seminte de cereale, leguminoase boabe, oleaginoase si alte seminte destinate consumului uman, animal, industrializarii si comercializarii ; b) depozit constructie terestra sau plutitoare, ansamblu de constructii, inclusiv siloz, impreuna cu dotarile tehnice aferente, situate intr-o incinta sau acvatoriu, aflate in proprietate sau administrate de un operator economic, utilizate pentru depozitarea semintelor de consum si autorizate conform Ordonantei de urgenta a Guvernului nr. 12/2006 ; c) depozitar operator economic, care are in proprietate sau administreaza cel putin un depozit. d) depozitare activitatea incluzand in mod neexclusiv operatiunile de receptie, conditionare, pastrare si restituire a semintelor de consum ; e) deponent persoana fizica sau juridica, proprietara al unei cantitati de seminte de consum pe care o preda direct sau prin reprezentantul sau autorizat, in vederea depozitarii la un depozitar, pentru care primeste in schimb, unul sau mai multe certificate de depozit ; f) licenta de depozit documentul emis de ministerul de resort la propunerea tehnică a Comisiei Naţionale de Gradare şi de cea economico-financiara a Fondului de garantare, care atesta ca, pe o perioada determinata, depozitarul indeplineste conditiile tehnice si financiare pentru depozitare, şi emiterea certificatelor de depozit conform prevederilor prezentei ordonante de urgenta; g) certificat de depozit documentul care constituie titlu de credit negociabil, reprezentativ al marfii, la ordin sau la purtator, emis de un depozitar care corespunde cerinţelor de la pct.b) şi are licenţă de depozit şi dreptul de a elibera certificate de depozit, in schimbul primirii semintelor de consum de la un deponent si care poate fi transmis, dupa caz, prin gir ; h) activitate de gradare activitate profesionala de identificare si separare pe criterii de calitate a loturilor de seminte pentru consum, in vederea incadrarii acestora in unul din gradele prevazute in Manualul de gradare a semintelor de consum ; 21

28 i) detinator de certificat de depozit orice persoana fizica sau juridica care, in calitate de posesor al certificatului de depozit, poate pretinde predarea de catre depozitar, la prima cerere, a semintelor de consum mentionate in certificatul de depozit, in schimbul acestui certificat ; j) pretul pietei pretul care se formeaza in mod liber pe piata pe baza raportului dintre cerere si oferta ; k) punct de receptie a semintelor de consum - locul in care o persoana fizica sau juridica ori reprezentantul autorizat al acesteia, care are in proprietate o cantitate de seminte de consum, o preda in vederea depozitarii. CAPITOLUL II Activitatea de gradare a semintelor de consum SECTIUNEA I-a Sistemul national de gradare Art. 5 (1) Activitatea de gradare a semintelor de consum se organizeaza in cadrul Sistemului national de gradare a semintelor de consum instituit prin hotarare a Guvernului, la propunerea ministerului de resort, dupa consultarea organizatiilor reprezentative in domeniu, in termen de 30 de zile de la data intrarii in vigoare a prezentei ordonante de urgenta. (2) Se infiinteaza Comisia Nationala de Gradare a Semintelor de Consum, cu personalitate juridica, fara scop lucrativ, de interes general si de utilitate publica, cu finantare din surse proprii. (3) Comisia Nationala de Gradare a Semintelor de Consum, numită în continuare Comisia, este formata din reprezentanti ai ministerului de resort, ai Autoritatii Nationale Sanitare Veterinare si pentru Siguranta Alimentelor, ai patronatelor si ai organizatiilor profesionale pe produs sau grupe de produse in domeniul productiei, depozitarii, procesarii, comercializarii si standardizarii semintelor de consum. (4) Atributiile si modul de organizare si functionare ale Comisiei Nationale de Gradare a Semintelor de Consum se stabilesc prin hotararea Guvernului prevazuta la alin.(1). SECTIUNEA a 2-a Emiterea licentei de gradator Art. 6 (1) Gradarea semintelor de consum se efectueaza de catre gradatori, autorizati în condiţiile legii prin acordarea unei licente de gradator, in conformitate cu prevederile Sistemului national de gradare a semintelor de consum. (2) Gradatorii pot avea si calitatea de angajati ai societatilor comerciale care se ocupa cu activitatea de depozitare, comercializare sau procesare a semintelor de consum. Art. 7 (1) Gradarea se efectueaza la punctele de receptie a semintelor de consum. (2) Manualul de gradare a semintelor de consum se aproba la propunerea Comisiei, prin ordin al ministrului agriculturii, alimentatiei si padurilor, in termen de 30 de zile de la data intrarii in vigoare a prezentei ordonante de urgenta. (3) Manualul de gradare a semintelor de consum poate fi modificat sau completat prin ordin al ministrului agriculturii, alimentatiei si dezvoltarii rurale, in urma hotararii Comisiei. CAPITOLUL III Licenta de depozit SECTIUNEA I-a Acordarea licentei de depozit Art. 8 (1) Licenta de depozit se acorda de ministerul de resort la solicitarea depozitarului constituit in conditiile legii, pentru fiecare depozit aflat in proprietate sau in administrare, daca sunt indeplinite conditiile financiare si de performanta tehnica pentru gradare si depozitare, conform prevederilor prezentei ordonante de urgenta si ale normelor metodologice pentru aplicarea acesteia. (2) Verificarea si certificarea conditiilor financiare si tehnice se realizeaza de către inspectori ai Comisiei şi ai Fondului de garantare, abilitate in acest scop de către ministerul de resort. Art. 9 - (1) Licenta de depozit se elibereaza contra unei taxe care se face venit la bugetul de stat. 22

29 (2) Cuantumul taxei pentru acordarea licentei de depozit si actualizarea acestuia in functie de rata inflatiei se stabilesc anual, prin ordin comun al ministrului agriculturii si dezvoltarii rurale şi ministrului economiei şi finanţelor si cuprind costurile necesare emiterii licentei de depozit. Art Licenta de depozit are o perioada de valabilitate de 5 ani de la data emiterii sale pentru fiecare depozit, cu posibilitatea prelungirii, in conditiile respectarii prevederilor prezentei ordonante de urgenta. Art Licenta de depozit se prelungeste, la cererea scrisa a depozitarului, fara a depasi perioada de 3 ani, cu perceperea unei taxe de prelungire, reprezentand 60% din valoarea taxei pentru acordarea licentei de depozit, la data solicitarii prelungirii. Art Licenta de depozit poate fi suspendata, anulata sau retrasa de către ministerul de resort pentru situatiile si in conditiile mentionate in normele metodologice pentru aplicarea prezentei ordonante de urgenta. Art.13- (1) In cazul propunerii Comisiei sau a Fondului de garantare, de suspendare sau anulare a licentei de depozit, depozitarul licentiat, conform prezentei ordonante de urgenta, are posibilitatea sa fie audiat de catre ministerul de resort (2) Reprezentanti ai Comisiei, Fondului de garantare şi ministerului de resort vor controla depozitul la care s-a constatat incalcarea prevederilor legale, iar depozitarul va presta activitatea de depozitare pana la stingerea obligatiilor din contractele de prestari de servicii incheiate cu deponentii. (3) Pe perioada suspendarii licentei de depozit, activitatea de control se poate exercita si pentru semintele de consum transferate si depozitate in alta parte, indiferent daca aceste produse sunt proprietatea deponentului sau a depozitarului. Art. 14- Depozitarul poate solicita retragerea propriei licente de depozit printr-o cerere scrisa, acordată de ministerul de resort, in conditiile stabilite de normele metodologice pentru aplicarea prezentei ordonante de urgenta. Art In situatiile de suspendare, anulare sau expirare a licentei de depozit, depozitarul este obligat sa transmita ministerului de resort certificatele de depozit anulate ca urmare a restituirii semintelor de consum deponentului, certificatele de depozit gresit completate si anulate, precum si certificatele necompletate. SECTIUNEA a 2-a Tariful de depozitare Art. 16 (1) Depozitarul va afisa permanent, la loc vizibil, in spatii destinate relatiilor cu publicul, tariful pentru serviciile prestate in cadrul operatiunilor de depozitare, definite la art. 4 lit. d). SECTIUNEA a 3-a Asigurarea depozitarului Art. 17 (1) Fiecare depozitar este obligat sa incheie un contract de asigurare a spatiilor de depozitare aflate in proprietatea sau administrarea sa, precum si a semintelor de consum depozitate pentru care s-au emis certificate de depozit. (2) Contractele de asigurare se incheie separat, pentru spatiile de depozitare si semintele de consum depozitate aferente certificatelor de depozit eliberate, pentru urmatoarele riscuri: explozii, incendii, inundatii si cutremure. (3) Depozitarul este obligat sa plateasca primele de asigurare, pentru intreaga perioada a depozitarii semintelor de consum pentru care s-au emis certificate de depozit. (4) Dreptul la despagubiri rezultate din contractul de asigurare a semintelor de consum pentru care s-au eliberat certificate de depozit, in baza unui contract de cesiune, va fi transmis integral deţinătorului sau Fondului de garantare pentru certificatele de depozit. Art (1) Depozitarul va pastra semintele de consum separat, in functie de gradul inregistrat pentru fiecare certificat de depozit emis, astfel incat restituirea sa se faca in limitele de calitate corespunzatoare gradului atribuit la receptie. (2) Pe perioada depozitarii semintelor de consum, scazamintele si perisabilitatile se stabilesc pe baza normelor metodologice aprobate prin hotarare a Guvernului. Art.19 Depozitarii carora li s-a acordat licenta de depozit sunt obligati sa accepte in mod nediscriminatoriu semintele de consum aduse spre depozitare, in conditiile prevazute in manualul de gradare, pana la capacitatea maxima pentru care s-a acordat licenta de depozit. 23

30 CAPITOLUL IV Certificatul de depozit SECTIUNEA 1-a Cerinte privind tiparirea, emisiunea si continutul certificatului de depozit Art. 20- (1) Certificatele de depozit vor fi emise de ministerul de resort sub forma unor documente cu regim special, inseriat de ministerul de resort si puse la dispozitia depozitarilor. Certificatele de depozit vor fi emise in regim electronic, inseriate in baza seriilor alocate de catre Fondul de Garantare,de catre depozitarii, care indeplinesc conditiile prevazute de prezenta lege (2) Ministerul de resort comanda tiparirea certificatelor de depozit si tine evidenta acestora. Evidenta certificatelor de depozit emise se tine intr-un registru electronic special administrat de catre Fondul de garantare (3) Tiparirea certificatelor de depozit se finanteaza de la bugetul de stat prin bugetul ministerul de resort. ( se elimina paragraful) Art. 21 Depozitarii, care îndeplinesc condiţiile prevăzute în prezenta lege pentru a emite certificate de depozit, elibereaza deponentilor certificate de depozit, pentru semintele de consum predate de acestia si depozitate, conform prevederilor prezentei ordonante de urgenta. Art (1) Certificatul de depozit constituie titlu de credit negociabil reprezentativ al marfii, la ordin sau la purtator, transmisibil, fara limite sau restrictii, in lipsa de stipulatie contrara, inserata in titlu la cererea detinatorului de certificat de depozit. (2) Certificatul de depozit este titlu executoriu atat pentru valoarea semintelor de consum depozitate pentru care acesta s-a emis, cat si pentru sumele si dobanzile garantate cu acesta. (3) Certificatul de depozit este valabil pana la data restituirii marfii de catre depozitar, dar nu mai mult de 12 luni de la data emiterii sale. (4) Pentru depozitarea semintelor de consum peste termenul prevazut la alin.(3), depozitarul elibereaza un nou certificat de depozit. Art Certificatul de depozit poate fi utilizat la constituirea unei garantii reale mobiliare asupra semintelor de consum depozitate, in conditiile prevazute de lege. Art (1) Formularul tip al certificatelor de depozit este prevazut in normele metodologice pentru aplicarea prezentei ordonante de urgenta. (2) Certificatul de depozit emis in conformitate cu prevederile prezentei ordonante de urgenta trebuie sa contina, sub sanctiunea nulitatii, urmatoarele mentiuni: a) seria si numarul certificatului de depozit; b) denumirea si sediul depozitarului, numarul licentei de depozit, codul unic de inregistrare, adresa depozitului; c) date pentru identificarea deponentului si semnatura lui; d) data emiterii certificatului de depozit si perioada depozitarii semintelor de consum; e) denumirea semintelor de consum si cantitatea pentru care s-a emis certificat de depozit; f) anul recoltei, calitatea si gradul semintelor de consum pentru care s-a emis certificat de depozit; g) semnatura si stampila depozitarului; h) o sectiune destinata transmiterii dreptului asupra acestuia, precum si pentru constituirea garantiei reale mobiliare asupra semintelor de consum depozitate. i) certificatul sa fie liber de orice sarcina. SECTIUNEA a 2 a Inregistrarea certificatelor de depozit Art (1) Depozitarul este obligat sa efectueze in registrul electronic special al certificatelor de depozit inregistrari complete referitoare la certificatele de depozit emise, eliberate, anulate sau necompletate, precum si si la cantitatile de seminte de consum depozitate. (2) Registrul si certificatele de depozit vor fi pastrate in conditiile legii (se elimină paragraful). Art Ministerul de resort va tine evidenta certificatelor de depozit tiparite si distribuite depozitarilor, intr-un registru electronic special al certificatelor de depozit (se elimină paragraful). 24

31 SECTIUNEA a 3-a Restituirea si expedierea semintelor de consum Art. 27 (1) La cererea detinatorului certificatului de depozit si in schimbul acestuia, depozitarul este obligat sa predea, in termenul stabilit de comun acord, semintele de consum depozitate, in conditiile de cantitate si calitate specificate in certificatul de depozit, dupa indeplinirea obligatiilor scadente de plata a contravalorii serviciilor de depozitare, calculate pana la data restituirii (2) Conditiile de calitate ale semintelor de consum restituite nu pot fi inferioare celor stabilite în certificatul de depozit. CAPITOLUL V Fondul de garantare pentru certificatele de depozit Art (1) La data intrarii in vigoare a prezentei ordonante de urgenta se infiinteaza Fondul de garantare pentru certificatele de depozit, denumit in continuare Fondul. (2) Fondul este persoana juridica de drept public, cu finantare bugetară şi extrabugetara. (3) Organizarea si functionarea Fondului se stabilesc prin statut propriu, aprobat prin hotarare a Guvernului, la propunerea ministerului de resort. (4) Sediul Fondului este in municipiul Bucuresti. Art. 29 -(1) Scopul Fondului este de a administra registrul electronic al certificatelor de depozit emise si de a garanta rambursarea valorii semintelor de consum nerestituite din certificatele de depozit, emise de depozitarii carora li s-a acordat licenta de depozit, detinatorilor cerificatului de depozit si/sau creditorilor. (2) Fondul va plati contravaloarea semintelor de consum pentru care s-au emis certificate de depozit atunci cand depozitele devin indisponibile. (3) In sensul prezentei ordonante de urgenta, depozitele sunt considerate indisponibile in momentul in care se constata de catre organismul de conducere al Fondului ca depozitarul nu este in masura sa livreze semintele de consum, conform conditiilor legale si contractuale aplicabile, sau in situatia in care lichidatorul, numit in conditiile Legii nr. 64/1995 privind procedura reorganizarii judiciare si a falimentului, republicata, confirma inexistenta sau indisponibilitatea stocurilor inscrise in certificatul de depozit. (4) Detinatorii certificatului de depozit indisponibil vor primi de la Fond contravaloarea cantitatii semintelor de consum nerestituita conform certificatului de depozit, calculata la pretul pietei, la data solicitarii restituirii semintelor de consum. (5) Organismul de conducere al Fondului va proceda la stabilirea contravalorii certificatului de depozit indisponibil, calculata la pretul pietei, in termen de maximum 30 de zile de la data solicitării plăţii detinatorii certificatelor de depozit si/sau creditori. (6) In termen de 30 de zile de la stabilirea pierderilor, Fondul va despagubi detinatorii certificatelor de depozit si/sau creditorii, in conformitate cu prevederile prezentei ordonante de urgenta si ale normelor metodologice pentru aplicarea acesteia. Art. 30- (1) Depozitarii, care indeplinesc conditiile de a emite certificate de depozit, sunt obligati sa participe la constituirea resurselor financiare ale Fondului, pentru asigurarea intereselor financiare ale deponentilor si/sau creditorilor. (2) Contributiile la bugetul Fondului vor avea ca unica utilizare protejarea intereselor financiare ale deponentilor si/sau creditorilor in situatia in care depozitele devin indisponibile, conform art.30 alin (3). (3) Resursele financiare ale bugetului de venituri si cheltuieli al Fondului se constituie din: a) alocări bugetare prin ministerul de resort acordate pentru primii 3 ani de functionare; b) după primii 3 ani de functionare, finantarea fondului se va face, in completarea alocatiei bugetare initiale, in exclusivitate din contribuţia depozitarilor care au eliberat certificate de depozit; c) dobanzi incasate la depozitele constituite de Fond; d) realizarea creantelor sale, rezultate din executarea depozitarului pentru care Fondul a plătit c-val certificatelor de depozit e) incasarea despagubirilor din politele de asigurare din contractele prevazute la art. 15; f) alte venituri, donatii si altele asemenea. (5) Fondul poate investi resursele financiare disponibile in titluri de stat si obligatiuni, bancile comerciale, administratiile si bancile centrale din tarile membre ale Uniunii Europene si tarile membre ale Organizatiei pentru Cooperare Economica si Dezvoltare. 25

32 (6) Prin normele metodologice pentru aplicarea prezentei ordonante de urgenta se stabileste plafonul minim si maxim al resurselor financiare, pentru garantarea contravalorii semintelor de consum depozitate, ale Fondului. (7) Sumele, reprezentand cote de participare la constituirea Fondului sunt nerambursabile si vor fi incadrate de catre depozitari in grupa cheltuielilor de exploatare. (8) Cheltuielile curente ale Fondului nu pot depasi nivelul anual aprobat de MADR prin ordin al ministrului; (9) Fondul este scutit de orice impozite si taxe privind activitatea sa. CAPITOLUL VI Dispozitii tranzitorii si finale Art. 31 (1) Instrainarea de catre depozitar a semintelor de consum din depozit fara consimtamantul proprietarului de drept se pedepseste potrivit prevederilor art. 213 din Codul penal. (2) Deteriorarea semintelor de consum in timpul depozitarii, cauzata de pastrarea, gestionarea si manipularea acestora, se pedepseste conform legilor in vigoare. Art. 32 (1) Faptele ce constituie contraventii la prevederile prezentei ordonante de urgenta si modul de sanctionare a acestora se stabilesc prin hotarare a Guvernului. (2) Constatarea savarsirii faptelor si aplicarea sanctiunilor se fac de catre persoanele imputernicite in acest sens prin ordin al ministrului agriculturii si dezvoltarii rurale. Sanctiunile contraventionale pot fi aplicate persoanelor fizice si persoanelor juridice. Art. 33 Prezenta ordonanta de urgenta intra in vigoare in termen de 30 de zile de la data publicarii in Monitorul Oficial al Romaniei, Partea I. Art. 34 In termen de 30 zile de la data intrarii in vigoare a prezentei ordonante de urgenta, ministerul de resort va elabora si va supune aprobarii Guvernului normele metodologice pentru aplicarea acesteia. Art. 35. Pe data intrarii in vigoare a prezentei ordonante de urgenta se abroga : a)ordonanta Guvernului nr. 56/2000 privind reglementarea depozitarii cerealelor si semintelor oleaginoase, regimul certificatelor de depozit pentru acestea, precum si constituirea Fondului de garantare pentru certificatele de depozit, publicata in Monitorul Oficial al Romaniei Partea I, Nr. 45 din 31 ianuarie 2000, aprobata cu modificari si completari prin Legea nr. 39/2001, cu modificarile si completarile ulterioare; b) Hotararea Guvernului nr. 1113/2001, privind aprobarea Normelor metodologice pentru aplicarea Ordonantei Guvernului nr. 56/2000 privind reglementarea depozitarii cerealelor si semintelor oleaginoase, regimul certificatelor de depozit pentru acestea, precum si constituirea Fondului de garantare pentru certificatele de depozit si pentru stabilirea contraventiilor si a modului de sanctionare a acestora, publicata in Monitorul Oficial al Romaniei, partea I nr. 755 din 27 noiembrie 2001; c) orice dispozitii contrare prevederilor prezentei ordonante de urgenta. 26

33 Anexa 7 Amendment proposal to the Government Decision establishing the National Grading Commission (available in Romanian only) Propunere de HG privind modificarea activităţilor derulate de Comisia Naţională de Gradare 1 Hotărâre nr din 27 noiembrie 2002 privind instituirea Sistemului naţional de gradare a seminţelor de consum Publicat în Monitorul Oficial, Partea I nr. 888 din 9 decembrie 2002 În temeiul art. 107 din Constituţie şi al art. 18 alin. (1) şi (4) din Ordonanţa de urgenţă a Guvernului nr. 141/2002 privind reglementarea depozitării seminţelor de consum, regimul certificatelor de depozit pentru acestea şi constituirea Fondului de garantare pentru certificatele de depozit, cu modificările şi completările ulterioare Guvernul României adoptă prezenta hotărâre. CAPITOLUL I Dispoziţii generale Art În scopul creării unui mecanism pentru organizarea şi executarea activităţii de gradare a seminţelor de consum la punctele de recepţie, precum şi al stimulării producţiei, asigurarii mentinerii integritatii calitatii pe perioada depozitarii şi valorificării acesteia se instituie Sistemul naţional de gradare a seminţelor de consum, denumit în continuare SNGSC. Art În sensul prezentei hotărâri, termenii şi expresiile folosite au următorul înţeles: a) sectoare - domeniile de activitate componente ale pieţei seminţelor de consum: producţie, depozitare, procesare, comercializare; b) planuri de gradare a seminţelor de consum - tabele care cuprind lista factorilor de gradare şi limitele valorice ale acestor factori, pe baza cărora se determină gradele şi care sunt cuprinse în Manualul de gradare a seminţelor de consum; c) factori de gradare - caracteristicile de calitate specifice ale fiecărui produs din grupa seminţelor de consum, în funcţie de care se face gradarea fiecărui lot de produs în unul dintre gradele cuprinse în planurile de gradare; d) Manualul de gradare a seminţelor de consum - document tehnic pe baza căruia se face gradarea, care include planurile de gradare a seminţelor de consum şi procedurile de determinare a valorilor calitative în vederea gradării; e1) depozitare activitatea incluzand in mod neexclusiv operatiunile de receptie, conditionare, pastrare si restituire a semintelor de consum ; e) punct de recepţie a seminţelor de consum - locul in care o persoana fizica sau juridica ori reprezentantul autorizat al acesteia, care are in proprietate o cantitate de seminte de consum, o preda in vederea depozitarii; f) activitatea de gradare - activitatea profesională de identificare şi separare pe criterii de calitate a loturilor de seminţe de consum, pentru încadrarea acestora în unul dintre gradele prevăzute de Manualul de gradare a seminţelor de consum; (se preia din OUG) g) gradator - persoană fizică autorizată în baza unei licenţe de gradator să efectueze gradarea seminţelor de consum; h) licenţa de gradator - document prin care se atestă că o persoană poate să desfăşoare activitatea autorizată de gradare a seminţelor de consum conform prevederilor legale; h1) licenta de depozit - documentul emis de ministerul de resort la propunerea tehnică a Comisiei Naţionale de Gradare şi de cea economico-financiara a Fondului de garantare, care atesta ca, pe o perioada determinata, depozitarul indeplineste conditiile tehnice si financiare pentru depozitare, şi emiterea certificatelor de depozit ; i) Comisia - Comisia Naţională de Gradare a Seminţelor de Consum; i1) inspector tehnici licentiere depozite persoana fizica, angajata a Comisiei si autorizata de ministerul de resort sa efectueze evaluarea tehnica a depozitelor in vederea acordarii licentei de depozit j) ministerul de resort - Ministerul Agriculturii si Dezvoltarii Rurale; 1 Modificările propuse sunt editate cu caractere aldine 27

34 k) seminţe de consum - seminţe de cereale, oleaginoase şi leguminoase, destinate consumului uman şi animal, industrializării şi comercializării; l) probă martor(eşantion de verificare) - eşantion de analiză care se formează în aceleaşi condiţii cu eşantionul pe care se efectuează gradarea şi care se păstrează în vederea unor eventuale contraanalize. CAPITOLUL II Sistemul naţional de gradare a seminţelor de consum SECŢIUNEA 1 Obiective, reguli de bază şi structură Art Pentru realizarea scopului său SNGSC: a) asigură participarea sectoarelor şi a autorităţilor publice la conducerea şi gestionarea SNGSC în interes reciproc avantajos; b) este flexibil şi adaptabil la schimbările ce intervin pe piaţa seminţelor de consum, precum şi la progresul tehnologic; c) este unic în România. Art (1) Funcţionarea SNGSC este asigurată prin: a) Comisia Naţională de Gradare a Seminţelor de Consum, înfiinţată potrivit prevederilor art. 18 alin. (2) din Ordonanţa de urgenţă a Guvernului nr. 141/2002, cu modificările şi completările ulterioare; b) gradatorii autorizaţi potrivit prevederilor prezentei hotărâri; b1) inspectori tehnici licentiere depozit c) instituţiile acreditate pentru efectuarea gradării în situaţiile în care gradul determinat la punctul de recepţie este contestat. (2) Activitatea de gradare se desfăşoară potrivit Manualului de gradare a seminţelor de consum. (3) Activitatea de inspectie tehnica pentru acordarea licentei de depozit se desfasoara potrivit Manualului de evaluare si inspectie tehnica a depozitelor SECŢIUNEA a 2-a Comisia Naţională de Gradare a Seminţelor de Consum. Organizare şi funcţionare Art (1) Comisia conduce şi gestionează SNGSC şi asigură aplicarea acestuia în condiţiile prevăzute de lege. (2) Comisia este o organizaţie cu personalitate juridică, fără scop lucrativ, de interes general şi de utilitate publică, cu conducere şi finanţare proprii, formată din reprezentanţi ai Ministerului Agriculturii si Dezvoltarii Rurale, ai Autoritatii Nationale Sanitare Veterinare si pentru Siguranta alimentelor, ai patronatelor şi ai organizaţiilor profesionale pe produs sau grupă de produse în domeniile producţiei, depozitării, procesării, comercializării şi standardizării seminţelor de consum. Art (1) Comisia are următoarele atribuţii principale: a) implementează şi administrează SNGSC; b) elaborează şi aprobă strategia de gradare a seminţelor de consum; c) elaborează şi aproba Manualul de gradare a seminţelor de consum; c1) elaboreaza si aproba Manualul de evaluare si inspectie tehnica a depozitelorş d) participă la elaborarea proiectelor de acte normative care au legătură cu evaluarea calitatii, conformitatii si regimul certificatelor de depozit pentru semintele de consum; e) elaborează Regulamentul privind licenţele de gradator, care cuprinde procedurile privind selectarea, instruirea şi examinarea persoanelor în vederea obţinerii licenţei de gradator, precum şi condiţiile de emitere, înregistrare, suspendare şi anulare a licenţei de gradator; f) prezintă ministerului de resort propunerile cu persoanele care îndeplinesc condiţiile pentru acordarea licenţei de gradator, însoţite de documente care atestă acest lucru; g) organizează cursuri pentru gradatori, inspectori tehnici licentiere depozite şi examenul pentru absolvirea acestor cursuri; h) prestează servicii potrivit scopului său şi încasează tarife sau onorarii destinate acoperirii cheltuielilor proprii de organizare şi funcţionare, cu respectarea prevederilor legale. (2) Manualul de gradare a seminţelor de consum, Manualul de evaluare si inspectie tehnica a depozitelor şi Regulamentul privind licenţele de gradator se aprobă prin ordin al ministrului agriculturii, alimentaţiei şi pădurilor. (3) Ministerul de resort decide asupra emiterii licenţelor de gradator în termen de 15 zile de la primirea propunerilor cu persoanele care îndeplinesc condiţiile pentru acordarea licenţei. 28

35 Art (1) Structura, componenţa şi ponderea de participare în Comisie, pe categorii de membri, sunt următoarele: a) reprezentanţi ai producătorilor de seminţe de consum, ai asociaţiilor acestora şi ai organizaţiilor profesionale pe produs sau grupe de produse - 28%; b) reprezentanţi ai patronatelor şi ai organizaţiilor profesionale pe produs sau grupe de produse ale procesatorilor de seminţe de consum - 20%; c) reprezentanţi ai patronatelor şi ai organizaţiilor profesionale pe produs sau grupe de produse ale depozitarilor de seminţe de consum - 20%; d) reprezentanţi ai patronatelor şi ai organizaţiilor profesionale pe produs sau grupe de produse ale comercianţilor, inclusiv intermedierile de seminţe de consum - 20%; e) reprezentanţi ai autorităţilor (MADR, ANSVSA) - 8%; f) reprezentanţi ai Asociaţiei de Standardizare din România - 4%. (2) Criteriile de eligibilitate pentru categoriile de membri ai Comisiei prevăzute la alin. (1) lit. a)-d) sunt următoarele: a) reprezentanţii patronatelor şi ai organizaţiilor profesionale trebuie să îndeplinească următoarele condiţii: - să reprezinte, conform statutelor proprii, asociaţii ale producătorilor, depozitarilor, procesatorilor şi comercianţilor constituite, organizate şi funcţionând în patronate, asociaţii profesionale sau în alte organizaţii neguvernamentale conform prevederilor legale; - să facă dovada că au membri în minimum 10 judeţe, pentru asociaţii ale producătorilor, depozitarilor şi procesatorilor; b) în situaţia în care există un număr mai mare de organizaţii decât numărul de reprezentanţi corespunzător cotei procentuale alocate pentru o anumită categorie în Comisie, organizaţiile încadrate în categoria respectivă vor negocia între ele reprezentanţii desemnaţi, în limitele permise de cota procentuală. (3) Primirea de noi membri în Comisie se face la solicitarea persoanelor juridice interesate, prin hotărâre emisă de Comisie în termen de 30 de zile de la data solicitării, în urma verificării şi confirmării îndeplinirii criteriilor de eligibilitate. Art Atribuţiile şi modul de organizare şi funcţionare, precum şi alte reglementări specifice privind Comisia se stabilesc în statutul aprobat de Comisie, cu avizul prealabil al ministerului de resort. SECŢIUNEA a 3-a Gradatori - evaluare şi acordarea licenţei Art. 9 - (1) Evaluarea şi autorizarea gradatorilor se fac de către Comisie conform prevederilor Regulamentului privind licenţele de gradator. (2) Lista cu gradatori autorizaţi, precum şi formularul-tip pentru licenţa de gradator se aprobă prin ordin al ministrului agriculturii, alimentaţiei şi pădurilor şi se publică în Monitorul Oficial al României, Partea I. Art (1) Calitatea de gradator se acordă persoanelor cu un nivel corespunzător de cunoştinţe teoretice şi practice, pe bază de examen de aptitudini profesionale. (2) Pentru atribuirea calităţii de gradator, potrivit prevederilor prezentei hotărâri, candidaţii trebuie să urmeze un curs de gradator organizat de Comisie şi să promoveze examenul de absolvire a acestuia. Art Gradatorii au obligaţia să respecte prevederile Manualului de gradare a seminţelor de consum. Art Licenţa de gradator se suspendă sau se retrage de către ministerul de resort la propunerea Comisiei, în condiţiile stabilite de regulamentul prevăzut la art. 6 alin. (1) lit. e). Art La solicitarea ministerului de resort Ministerul Muncii şi Solidarităţii Sociale va include categoriile profesionale de gradator şi inspector licenţiere în nomenclatorul de meserii. Art (1) La predarea seminţelor de consum la punctele de recepţie gradatorul are obligaţia să preleveze trei probe, după cum urmează: a) proba de gradare, pe care se efectuează gradarea; b) o probă martor pentru depozitar; c) o probă martor pentru deponent. (2) Cele două probe martor se sigilează în prezenţa şi cu semnătura ambelor părţi, la fiecare operaţiune de gradare, şi se preiau una de către deponent şi cealaltă de către depozitar. (3) Depozitarul deţinător al punctului de recepţie este obligat să păstreze proba într-un loc sigur pe termen de 30 de zile de la data predării seminţelor de consum. (4) În situaţia în care până la data împlinirii termenului prevăzut la alin. (3) s-a înregistrat o contestaţie privind gradul determinat la punctul de recepţie a seminţelor de consum, depozitarul deţinător al punctului de recepţie va păstra proba până la soluţionarea definitivă a contestaţiei. Art Condiţiile suplimentare de prelevare, conservare şi transport ale probelor se aprobă de Comisie. Art (1) Gradarea seminţelor de consum se execută contra unui tarif de gradare per tonă de seminţe de 29

36 consum recepţionate, stabilit de administratorii punctelor de recepţie. (2) Administratorii punctelor de recepţie au obligaţia de a încasa şi de a vira lunar către Comisie o sumă fixă pe tonă de seminţe de consum gradate, pentru a asigura fondurile necesare funcţionării SNGSC. (3) Suma fixă pentru asigurarea funcţionării SNGSC este propusă anual de Comisie şi aprobată prin ordin al ministrului agriculturii, alimentaţiei şi pădurilor. (4) Administratorii punctelor de recepţie au obligaţia să afişeze la loc vizibil, în spaţii destinate relaţiilor cu publicul, tariful pentru serviciile prestate în cadrul activităţii de gradare, definite la art. 2 lit. f), şi suma fixă pentru asigurarea funcţionării SNGSC. (5) Administratorii punctelor de recepţie au obligaţia de a transmite lunar Comisiei date despre cantităţile de seminţe de consum gradate, potrivit formularului-tip elaborat de aceasta şi aprobat prin ordin al ministrului agriculturii, alimentaţiei şi pădurilor. Art Activitatea de gradare a seminţelor de consum se efectuează în mod obligatoriu la toate punctele de recepţie, cu respectarea Manualului de gradare a seminţelor de consum, începând cu data de 1 iunie SECŢIUNEA a 4-a Manualul de gradare a seminţelor de consum, planurile şi factorii de gradare Art (1) Manualul de gradare a seminţelor de consum constituie documentul tehnic pe baza căruia se face gradarea seminţelor de consum în România. (2) Manualul de gradare a seminţelor de consum se aprobă de ministerul de resort, prin ordin al ministrului, la propunerea Comisiei. (3) Manualul de gradare a seminţelor de consum se distribuie de Comisie agenţilor economici care prestează servicii de depozitare şi care au obligaţia să afişeze planurile de gradare în locuri vizibile şi uşor accesibile din spaţiile de relaţii cu publicul. (4) Fondurile pentru editarea Manualului de gradare a seminţelor de consum se asigură de către Comisie. Art Factorii de gradare şi limitele valorice ale acestora se analizează de Comisie, pentru a stabili dacă aceştia se menţin sau se modifică. Propunerile de modificare se înaintează de Comisie ministerului de resort pentru a fi aprobate prin ordin al ministrului. Art (1) Înregistrarea rezultatelor gradării se face de către gradatori in format electronic si pe formular-tip, al cărui model este prevăzut în Manualul de gradare a seminţelor de consum. (2) Formularul de gradare se eliberează de gradatori la fiecare punct de recepţie a seminţelor de consum. (3) Un exemplar al formularului de gradare se înmânează proprietarului seminţelor de consum sau reprezentantului legal al acestuia, iar alt exemplar este reţinut la punctul de recepţie. SECŢIUNEA a 5-a Procedura de rezolvare a contestaţiilor care apar la determinarea gradelor la seminţele de consum Art În vederea soluţionării contestaţiilor privind determinarea gradelor la seminţelor de consum Comisia nominalizează anual organizaţiile specializate şi acreditate, care efectuează gradarea seminţelor de consum în situaţiile în care gradul determinat la punctul de recepţie este contestat şi stabilesc rezultatul gradării considerat corect şi definitiv în cadrul SNGSC. Art Persoana nemulţumită de rezultatul gradării trimite proba martor la Comisie, care înregistrează contestaţia şi înaintează proba martor uneia dintre organizaţii nominalizate potrivit art. 21 de către Comisie, selectate în mod aleator de către aceasta. Pe baza probei martor organizaţia selectată evaluează gradul seminţelor de consum şi transmite Comisiei rezultatul gradării. Comisia comunică acest rezultat contestatorului. Art Costul integral al evaluării probei martor se va plăti în avans de către contestator şi va fi suportat în final de partea căreia îi este imputabilă evaluarea. Art Condiţiile de transmitere a probelor martor şi condiţiile de achitare a costului de evaluare a probelor martor se stabilesc de Comisie. Art Ministerul de resort este abilitat să sprijine activitatea, organizarea şi funcţionarea Comisiei şi promovează, la propunerea acesteia, politici şi programe în domeniul SNGSC. SECTIUNEA a 6-a Sanctiuni contraventionale privind neindeplinirea obligatiilor de gradare a semintelor de consum Art Constituie contraventii urmatoarele fapte: a) efectuarea gradarii de catre alte persoane decat gradatorii autorizati prin licenta de gradator; 30

37 b) neefectuarea gradarii la punctele de receptie a semintelor de consum, astfel cum sunt definite prin lege; c) nevirarea lunara catre CNGSC a tarifului da gradare aprobat; d) neafisarea, conform legii, a tarifului de gradare, a tarifului pentru serviciile prestate in cadrul activitatii de gradare, precum si a planurilor de gradare prevazute in Manualul de gradare a semintelor de consum, in vigoare; e) nerespectarea reglementarilor legale privind raportarea lunara referitoare la activitatea de gradare, conform formularului tip, in vigoare; f) neinregistrarea de catre gradatori a rezultatelor gradarii pe formularul-tip, in vigoare; g) neeliberarea formularului de gradare de catre gradatori la fiecare punct de receptie a semintelor de consum si neinmanarea unui exemplar al acestuia, dupa completare, proprietarului semintelor de consum sau reprezentantului legal al acestuia. Art Contraventiile prevazute la art.26 se sanctioneaza dupa cum urmeaza: a) cu amenda de la lei la lei, fapta prevazuta la litera g). b) cu amenda de la lei la lei, faptele prevazute la literele a) si f); c) cu amenda de la lei la lei, faptele prevazute la literele c), d) si e); d) cu amenda de la lei la lei, faptele prevazute la literele b); Art (1) Constatarea contraventiilor se fac de catre persoanele imputernicite, in acest sens, prin ordin al ministrului agriculturii, padurilor si dezvoltarii rurale, iar aplicarea sanctiunilor se face de directiile agricole de dezvoltare rurală judeţene sau a municipiului Bucureşti. (2) Contravenientul poate achita, in termen de cel mult 48 de ore de la data comunicarii procesului verbal cu rezoluţia de sancţionare, jumatate din minimul amenzii prevazute la art. 27, agentul constatator facand mentiune despre aceasta posibilitate in procesul-verbal. Art.29.- Contraventiilor prevazute la art. 26 le sunt aplicabile prevederile Ordonantei Guvernului nr. 2/2001 privind regimul juridic al contraventiilor, aprobata cu modificari si completari prin Legea nr. 180/2002, cu modificarile ulterioare. 31

38 Draft by-laws of the Indemnity Fund. (available in Romanian only) Propunere de statut al Fondului de Garantare Statut al Fondului de garantare a certificatelor de depozit Cap. I Anexa 8 Art. 1. Fondul de garantare a certificatelor de depozit denumit în continuare Fondul, este constituit şi funcţionează în conformitate cu prevederile OG nr., cu prevederile prezentului statut şi ale reglementărilor date în aplicarea legii. Art. 2. Fondul se constituie pe o perioadă nedeterminată, ca persoană juridică de drept public, având drept scop - administrarea registrului electronic al certificatelor de depozit emise de depozitari; - garantarea plăţii contravalorii seminţelor de consum pentru care s-au emis certificate de depozit, în situaţia în care depozitele devin indisponibile. Art. 3. Fondul are sediul social în municipiul Bucureşti. Cap. II Art. 4. Potrivit prevederilor ordonanţei prin ordin al ministrului agriculturii şi dezvoltării rurale se aprobă: - normele interne de lucru ale Fondului; - structura organizatorică şi de personal precum şi politica salarială; - bugetul de venituri şi cheltuieli al Fondului; - plafonul minim şi maxim al resurselor financiare necesare pentru garantarea contravalorii seminţelor de consum depozitate şi nerestituite debitorilor de certificate de depozit; - majorarea contribuţiei anuale datorate de depozitari; - suspendarea şi reluarea plăţii contribuţiilor anuale; - raportul anual de activitate şi situaţiile financiare anuale. Art. 5. Organele de administrare şi de conducere executivă ale Fondului sunt: a). Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului; b). Directorul general al Fondului. Art. 6. Componenţa Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului va fi format din.persoane şi se aprobă prin ordin al ministrului agriculturii şi dezvoltării rurale. Art. 7. (1) Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului se întruneşte cel puţin o dată pe lună în şedinţă ordinară. (2) Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului poate fi convocat în şedinţă extraordinară de către preşedinte, din proprie iniţiativă sau la cererea oricărui membru al consiliului de administraţie. (3) Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului se convoacă în scris, cu cel puţin 5 zile lucrătoare înainte de data şedinţei. (4) Convocarea trebuie să conţină ordinea de zi, data şi documentele supuse discuţiei, precum şi locul de desfăşurare a şedinţei. (5) Şedinţele vor avea loc la sediul Fondului sau în orice alt loc unde s-a convenit. La şedinţele Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului participă, în calitate de invitat, directorul general, iar în lipsa acestuia, unul dintre adjuncţii săi care a fost desemnat de către acesta. (6) În situaţii care impun acţiuni urgente, termenul de 5 zile poate fi redus, iar convocarea va fi efectuată verbal. (7) Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului deliberează în mod valabil în prezenţa a cel puţin 5 din numărul membrilor săi. (8) Deciziile Consiliului de administraţie ale Fondului se iau cu majoritate simplă de voturi din totalul membrilor acestuia. (9) Secretariatul Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului este asigurat de Fond. Procesul-verbal al şedinţei, care conţine ordinea deliberărilor, deciziile luate, numărul de voturi întrunite şi opiniile separate, dacă este cazul, se semnează de către toţi membrii care au participat la şedinţă. (10) Discuţiile din cadrul şedinţelor Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului pot fi înregistrate folosindu-se mijloace audio corespunzătoare. 32

39 Art. 8. Atribuţiile Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului sunt următoarele: a) analizează, avizează şi propune ministrului agriculturii şi dezvoltării rurale documentele prevăzute la art. 4; b) analizează şi aprobă: 1. numirea şi eliberarea din funcţie a directorului general şi a adjuncţilor acestuia; 2. modalităţile, plafoanele maxime, termenele şi condiţiile de plasare, în scopul fructificării resurselor financiare disponibile ale Fondului, precum şi rapoartele referitoare la operaţiunile de investire a resurselor financiare ale acestuia; 3. contractarea cu persoane fizice şi juridice, române sau străine, de servicii privind activitatea de executare a depozitarilor pentru care Fondul a plătit contravaloarea certificatelor de depozit; 4. raportul cu privire la selectarea auditorilor financiari; 5. sistemul de control intern, inclusiv auditul intern; 6. implicaţiile asupra Fondului ale hotărârii judecătoreşti privind începerea procedurii falimentului şi stabilirea măsurilor de luat, pe baza propunerilor directorului general, cu privire la modalităţile de lichidare a depozitarilor declaraţi în stare de faliment, respectiv cu privire la plata compensaţiilor către deţinătorii de certificate de depozit indisponibile; 7. solicitările Fondului cu privire la primirea de la Ministerul Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale şi de la depozitari a documentelor şi informaţiilor necesare funcţionării în bune condiţii a acestuia; c) exercită orice alte sarcini prevăzute de lege sau date de Ministerul Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale Art. 9. (1) Preşedintele Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului are următoarele atribuţii: a) stabileşte ordinea de zi şi convoacă Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului în conformitate cu prevederile legii; b) conduce lucrările şedinţelor Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului; c) solicită directorului general sau, în lipsa acestuia, înlocuitorului său, prezentarea materialelor ce constituie obiectul ordinii de zi; d) numeşte un membru al Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului, care îl înlocuieşte în cazul imposibilităţii temporare de participare; e) face propuneri de numire în funcţie pentru directorul general şi adjuncţii acestuia; f) semnează contractele de muncă cu membrii conducerii executive şi aprobă propunerile de premiere a personalului, prezentate de directorul general; g) acordă prime şi alte stimulente conducerii executive şi aprobă propunerile de premiere a personalului, prezentate de directorul general; h) asigură prezentarea la Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului a bugetului de venituri şi cheltuieli, a situaţiilor financiare anuale, a raportului anual de activitate, precum şi a propunerii privind alocarea profitului Fondului;ţ i) controlează activitatea directorului general; j) asigură aducerea la îndeplinire a hotărârilor Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului şi informarea acestuia asupra modului de realizare a hotărârilor; k) execută orice alte sarcini în aplicarea prevederilor legale sau stabilite de exercită orice alte sarcini prevăzute de lege sau date de Ministerul Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale, ori de Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului. (2) Preşedintele Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului, împreună cu directorul general, înaintează şi prezintă, după caz ministrului agriculturii şi dezvoltării rurale, documentele prevăzute la art. 4. (3) Preşedintele Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului propune spre aprobare Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului măsurile ce se impun pentru ducerea la îndeplinire a sarcinilor trasate de Ministerul Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale. Art. 10. Directorul general al Fondului conduce operativ activitatea curentă a acestuia, asigură îndeplinirea hotărârilor Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului şi informează asupra modului de realizare a acestora. Directorul general al Fondului are următoarele atribuţii: a) reprezintă Fondul în relaţiile cu terţii. Reprezentarea se face direct sau prin delegat; b) propune Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului spre avizare, respectiv spre aprobare, documentele prevăzute la art. 4 şi 8; c) asigură publicarea listei depozitarilor ai căror deponenţi beneficiază de garantarea rambursării contravalorii certificatelor de depozit deţinute; d) asigură îndeplinirea tuturor procedurilor necesare pentru efectuarea plăţilor prevăzute de lege, în cazul indisponibilizării depozitelor; e) supraveghează procesele de administrare, de lichidare şi de plată a sumelor datorate deţinătorilor de certificate de depozit indisponibile; f) încheie, modifică şi desface contractele individuale de muncă ale salariaţilor Fondului; 33

40 g) angajează cheltuielile legate de funcţionarea Fondului; h) asigură organizarea şi exercitarea controlului intern şi a auditului intern, în conformitate cu normele emise de Fond; i) încheie contracte de servicii privind activitatea de lichidare, servicii de asistenţă şi de consultanţă de specialitate cu persoane fizice şi juridice, române sau străine; j) îndeplineşte orice alte atribuţii date în aplicarea prevederilor legale ori stabilite în sarcina sa de Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului. Art. 11. Numirea şi eliberarea din funcţie a directorului general şi a adjuncţilor acestuia se aprobă de către Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului, la propunerea preşedintelui acestuia. Cap. III Organizarea şi funcţionarea Fondului Art. 12. În termen de 60 de zile de la data aprobării de către Ministerul Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale a structurii organizatorice şi de personal, conducerea executivă a Fondului elaborează proiectul regulamentului de organizare şi funcţionare al Fondului şi Normelor Metodologice proprii de lucru şi le supune aprobării Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului. Art. 13. Activitatea Fondului ca plătitor al certificatelor de depozit indisponibile se va desfăşura în conformitate cu prevederile ordonanţei guvernului nr.. şi ale reglementărilor elaborate de Fond în aplicarea acestora. Art. 14. Activitatea Fondului în calitate de administrator interimar ori lichidator al depozitarilor, desemnat într-o astfel de calitate conform legii, se va desfăşura în conformitate cu prevederile legislaţiei aplicabile în acest domeniu şi al reglementărilor proprii elaborate de conducerea executivă a Fondului în termen de 90 de zile de la data publicării în Monitorul Oficial al României, Partea I, a prezentului statut. Art. 15. (1) În baza aprobării de către Ministerul Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale a politicii salariale a Fondului, precum şi a prevederilor din legislaţia muncii, conducerea executivă a Fondului va elabora proiectului contractului colectiv de muncă, care va fi negociat du salariaţii Fondului şi va fi apoi supus aprobării Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului. (2) Contractele individuale de muncă pentru membrii conducerii executive a Fondului se negociază şi se semnează de către preşedintele Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului. Tot acesta stabileşte şi nivelul salariilor de încadrare şi al indemnizaţiilor respective pentru conducerea executivă a Fondului. (3) Contractele individuale de muncă pentru personalul de execuţie al Fondului, precum şi salariile individuale de încadrare ale acestuia se stabilesc prin negociere de către directorul general, conform reglementărilor legale şi prevederilor contractului colectiv de muncă aprobat. (4) Angajarea şi stabilirea salariului de încadrare pentru personalul de execuţie se aprobă prin decizie a directorului general al Fondului. Art. 16. Stabilirea salariilor de încadrare, precum şi a indemnizaţiilor de conducere pentru directorul general şi adjuncţii acestuia se aprobă prin decizie a preşedintelui Consiliului de administraţia al Fondului. Cap. IV Resursele financiare ale Fondului şi modul de utilizare a acestora Art. 17. (1) Fondul are următoarele resurse financiare: a) contribuţiile iniţiale şi anuale ale Ministerului Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale; b) contribuţiile anuale datorate de depozitari; c) încasările din recuperarea creanţelor Fondului; d) venituri din investirea resurselor financiare disponibile şi venituri din încasarea poliţelor de asigurare; e) alte resurse donaţii, sponsorizări, asistenţă financiară; f) alte venituri stabilite conform legii. (2) Resursele financiare ale Fondului vor fi utilizate pentru acoperirea despăgubirilor pretinse de deţinătorii de certificate de depozit şi pentru acoperirea cheltuielilor curente ale acestuia. (3) Sumele rămase disponibile după acoperirea obligaţiilor de plată se investesc în condiţiile aprobate de Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului. (4) Resursele disponibile ale Fondului pot fi investite de Fond în: a) titluri de stat, titluri garantate de stat şi titluri emise de Banca Naţională a României; b) depozite la termen la instituţii de credit, depozite ce nu pot depăşi 25% din volumul resurselor disponibile; (5) Selectarea instrumentelor financiare şi a instituţiilor de credit la care se va face investirea resurselor financiare disponibile ale Fondului va avea în vedere minimizarea riscurilor plasamentelor respective, potrivit 34

41 reglementărilor proprii ale Fondului. Se va urmări totodată investirea eficientă a resurselor respective, inclusiv prin diversificarea modalităţilor de investire, în limitele şi în condiţiile prevăzute de ordonanţă. (6) În acest scop conducerea executivă a Fondului prezintă lunar Consiliului de administraţie situaţia fondurilor disponibile care pot fi investite în perioada următoare, având în vedere, pe de o parte, încasarea de contribuţii de la depozitari, plasamentele care ajung la scadenţă, dobânzile eferente acestor plasamente, precum şi disponibilităţile din contul curent, iar pe de altă parte, obligaţiile privind plata de despăgubiri şi acoperirea cheltuielilor curente de funcţionare ale Fondului. În funcţie de datele menţionate mai sus se vor prezenta propuneri de investire pe diferite perioade. Art. 18. (1) Diferenţa dintre veniturile realizate din investirea resurselor financiare ale Fondului şi cheltuielile curente ale acestuia constituie profitul Fondului. (2) Profitul Fondului se repartizează într-o cota minimă de 99% pentru reîntregirea resurselor Fondului destinate plăţii depozitelor garantate, după deducerea unei cote de până 1% pentru constituirea fondului anual de participare la profit a personalului de execuţie şi de conducere, precum şi a membrilor Consiliului de administraţie al acestuia. Modalitatea de repertizare a profitului se stabileşte de Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului, la propunerea directorului general. Cap. V. Bugetul de venituri şi cheltuieli, situaţiile financiare anuale şi controlul acestora Art. 19. Organizarea şi conducerea contabilităţii se fac potrivit prevederilor Legii contabilităţii nr. 82/1991, republicată, şi ale reglementărilor proprii în domeniu, avizate de Banca Naţională a României şi de Ministerul Finanţelor Publice. Art. 20. (1) Proiectul bugetului de venituri şi cheltuieli, elaborat de conducerea executivă a Fondului, se supune spre aprobare ministerului Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale, după analiza şi avizarea acestuia de către Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului. (2) Modul de execuţie a bugetului de venituri şi cheltuieli se verifică de către controlul intern al Fondului şi se analizează periodic de Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului. Art. 21. (1) În vederea îndeplinirii atribuţiilor Fondului privind efectuarea controlului intern şi auditului intern, Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului aprobă mecanisme de control şi audit intern care se vor stabili prin norme proprii, în concordanţă cu reglementările legale. (2) În scopul auditării situaţiilor financiare, Fondul va încheia contract cu un auditor financiar, persoană juridică autorizată de Camera Auditorilor Financiari din România. Art. 22. (1) Raportul anual de activitate al Fondului împreună cu situaţiile financiare anuale se supun aprobării Ministerului Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale. (2) Raportul anual de activitate al Fondului, împreună cu situaţiile financiare anuale, aprobate de Ministerul Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale, precum şi raportul auditorului financiar se vor da publicităţii potrivit legii. Art. 23. (1) În vederea îndeplinirii atribuţiilor sale şi pentru punerea în aplicare şi respectarea prevederilor legislaţiei referitoare la activitatea Fondului, conducerea executivă a acestuia a acestuia va elabora reglementări proprii sub formă de regulamente, norme, ordine, circulare şi comunicate. (2) Proiectele de regulamente şi de norme se analizează şi se avizează de Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului şi se supun aprobării Ministerului Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale. Regulamentele şi normele aprobate vor fi semnate de preşedintele Consiliului de administraţie al Fondului. (3) Celelalte reglementări se aprobă de Consiliul de administraţie al Fondului şi vor fi semnate de directorul general al acestuia. (4) Reglementările elaborate de Fond se publică în Monitorul Oficial al României, Partea I. Cap. VII Dispoziţii finale Art. 24. Dizolvarea, încetarea activităţii ori modificarea obiectului de activitate al Fondului se poate face numai prin lege. Art. 25. Statutul Fondului se publică în Monitorul Oficial al României, Partea I. 35

42 Convergence Romania Financial Sector Modernization Special Projects Initiative Public-Private Steering Committee Rural Lending Project Objective: To prepare a set of specific recommendations ( secondary rules and regulations and technical and organizational implementation steps) on the measures needed to be undertaken by the competent authorities, market participants and other institutions in order to remove the existing roadblocks to the development of the agricultural warrants-backed lending within acceptable risk parameters. Project Working Group Activities PWG Members: 9 PWG Meetings: 2 (strategy meeting) Public stakeholders National Bank of Romania Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Public Finance Grading Commission Insurance Supervision Commission Private stakeholders Banking sector (2 banks) Guarantee Funds Farmers Depositaries Insurance companies Commodities Exchange Project Main Steps Jan. 07: PWG Strategy Meeting March 07: Appointment of Project Technical Anchor (TAN) and start of his onsite work March 07: PWG meeting to discuss on TAN s main findings Summary of Impact Assessment First full year (mln EUR) 1. Government: tax revenues* (0.5); 2. Banks: additional loans Borrowers: easier access to loans under better terms *=Levied on Banks higher net profits For more information, please contact: 1. SPI Secretariat: Ms. Ramona Bratu, Ms. Oana Nedelescu tel: ; ramona.bratu@convergencesee.eu; oana.nedelescu@convergencesee.eu 2. Project Management Group: Mr. Radu Negrea (Project Owner), General Secretary, RBA, tel: ; e- mail: radu.negrea@arb.ro

43 A. Project objective and deadline Project objective: To prepare a set of specific recommendations ( secondary rules and regulations and technical and organizational implementation steps) on the measures needed to be undertaken by the competent authorities, market participants and other institutions in order to remove the existing roadblocks to the development of the agricultural warrants-backed lending within acceptable risk parameters. Initial deadline: end March, 2007 B. Overall project status assessment and next steps The project has not advanced according to the initial plan due to weak involvement of the major stakeholders represented in the PWG. The PWG membership has been and will continue to be expanded in order to have both a more business-oriented composition and a better representation of all stakeholders. The most recent PWG meeting revealed the possibility of private stakeholder actions that could accelerate the development of the warrants-deposit certificates backed lending. Banks, insurance companies, professional associations and others could join their efforts in creating a private replication of the institutions and processes whose establishment and functioning are, according to the current legal framework, dependent on government actions. This private WDC scheme could be built up around the already established National Grading Commission and on a win-win basis, ensuring the financial comfort (in terms of risks coverage) and interest of all the involved parties. Based on the common understanding of the legal framework and using as reference TAN s report, PWG should now be able to outline a feasible approach and viable recommendations, acceptable for all the stakeholders. SPI Secretariat will support the PMG in developing a structured dialogue allowing the achievement of the project objective by the end of June C. Actions taken so far C1. Impact Assessment Convergence has performed a Regulatory Impact Assessment in order to determine the annual share of annual agricultural production that could be financed against deposit certificates once the warrants-deposit certificate scheme is put in place. The estimations show that, based on the deposit certificates, banks could register an increase in lending of EUR 559 million in a 4 years aggregated amount, with EUR 104 million in the first year. C2. Project Strategy Meeting In the strategy meeting held on January 25 th, 2007, the Project Management Group (PMG) outlined the following principles that should guide the project working group efforts in designing the recommendations: 2

44 a system of control of the depositaries and of the cereals deposited should be in place to ensure that the titles issued by the depositaries (deposit certificates warrants) are backed by cereals that are stored in the quantity and of the quality stated. This is an important trust component of the process of converting agricultural commodities into tradable securities. In practice, such system of control could be enforced through rigorous licensing procedures of depositaries, performed by a qualified institution, based on rigorous technical and financial criteria. In addition, the verification of the quality of stored cereals should be performed by independent specialized institutions. a system of risk assurance should provide comfort to those that trade or accept deposit certificates warrants as guarantees that the risks incurred are adequately covered. In practice, this could be achieved through the setting up of the Deposit Certificated Guarantee Fund. In this regard, the Ministry of Agriculture should play a key role and could be supported by the existing Rural Credit Deposit Guarantee Fund. Participants agreed on undertaking the following actions and tasks in order to ensure that the most relevant information is available to the working group for its deliberations enabling a rapid advance and the timely achievement of the project objective. Participants suggested that the PWG be completed with more banks representatives (BCR and BRD) and the Ministry of Public Finance representative joins the working group at its next meetings. C3. PWG members contributions Rural Credit Deposit Guarantee Fund prepared and shared a note containing merely the regulatory initiative needed in order to establish the indemnity fund. The NBR representative in the project working group sent a position note regarding the prudential treatment of the deposit certificates and the provisioning of the loans backed by warrants-deposit certificates, and some considerations on the possibility of having a rapid enforcement of the deposit certificates by law. The newly joined Grading Commission s representative shared with all the group members his views on gathering all the licensing, inspection, controlling and guaranteeing activities under a single roof the Grading Commission. The newly appointed Project Manager presented the risk mitigation ways under RZB scheme of lending based on deposit certificates and his opinion on the indemnity fund guaranteeing the deposit certificates. C4. SPI Secretariat actions In order to favor a common understanding of the issues, SPI Secretariat gathered and sent to PWG members a complete list of regulations on the warrants-deposit certificate, after validating it with RCGF. In order to facilitate the understanding of the risks to be covered by the indemnity fund foreseen by the law, SPI Secretariat sent a letter to the Insurance Supervision Commission asking for details on the coverage of risks in agricultural lending by insurance companies. SPI Secretariat took actions to enlarge the project working group composition and to give it a more business oriented feature and supported the work of a foreign expert appointed by Convergence. 3

45 C5. Project development interim assessment Given the breadth of the agenda, the SPI Secretariat and Convergence have proposed to the PO who accepted to hire an expert to put together a summary inventory of relevant issues and prepare a set of implementable recommendations. In Annex 1 we attach the ToR. C6. PWG meeting on March 29 The expert shared with the PWG the findings of his field work (Annex 2 - Minutes of the meeting). The PWG members shared opinions on some important issues raised by TAN such as: revision of the terms of the WDCs - participants agreed that it is necessary that WDCs include all value-specific information about the grain consignment, in particular the gluten content, where relevant, in order to provide to the producers the comfort regarding the quality of the grains stored. licensing of depositaries - the issue of a compulsory versus an optional remained open but a couple of participants, including the Ministry of Agriculture, agreed that there should be a mandatory authorization of depositaries. the WDC Indemnity Fund- the indemnity fund issue has to be clarified and detailed in respect of the risks covered and of procedures, allowing thus a pertinent opinion on the opportunity of its establishing. the grading system - the grading of the grains stored with depositaries is mandatory, according to the law but the state does not ensure the enforcement of the current legal provisions. the rank of the WDCs- having the WDCs assigned with a preferential ranking would encourage banks to take on these guarantees. Participants concluded that it would be important to discuss the issues of topical importance for the project (i.e. licensing mandatory versus optional; supervision; indemnity fund; public sector solution versus private sector solution, etc.) in a more structured manner, based on the TAN s report, in order to allow the project completion by the end of June. The expert will release his final report shortly. D. Administrative Next Steps D1: SPI Secretariat will prepare the invitation letter to the association of depositaries to appoint a representative in the project working group (Annex 3). D2: Based on TAN s report, SPI Secretariat will prepare a list of the main issues that have to be discussed by the project working group, outlining their pros and cons. D3: All project working group members will provide feedback on the materials prepared by the SPI Secretariat on the specific topics to be addressed. D4: SPI Secretariat will prepare a centralized document outlining, by issues to be addressed by the working group, the pros and cons, the opinions of the PWG members as well as the possible solutions. This document will be discussed in the next project working group meeting, to be held in May In early June, PM with SPI Secretariat support will send a progress report to the SPI Committee members. 4

46 Annex 1 Convergence Romania Financial Sector Modernization Special Projects Initiative Public-Private Steering Committee Project: Rural lending (Warrants deposit certificates) Project Owner: Radu Negrea (RBA) Project Manager: Marilena Popovici (Bancpost) Deputy Project Manager: Aurica Stoica (Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development) Project Working Group: Rural Credit Guarantee Fund (1 expert), NBR (1 expert) Project Objective: Technical Anchor (TAN) Role To provide the Project Working Group (PWG) with a thorough analysis of how bank rural lending (products, policies, processes, procedures and target clients) is done under the current regulation and how it is likely to be affected by the new regulatory solutions under consideration. Role: TAN will work closely with the Project Working Group and will focus on how the proposed extension of the Warrant Deposit Certificates scheme (so far largely unsuccessful) could be rolled out more successfully to stimulate rural lending. In addition TAN will assess how other structures could be used to encourage lending institutions established in rural areas to provide more credit for the much-needed development of agriculture. This could include the development of secure warehouses in the dairy industry and egg producing sectors. TAN will draw upon his extensive experience of Romanian banking structures and practices based on working full time inside the largest credit institution in Romania (BCR) over most of the past 2 years. TAN has already travelled widely within Romania as part of this work, although not focussed on agriculture. TAN will also be able to add his experiences of working in Macedonia for the World Bank (which included assessments of agricultural lending) as well as direct lending experience to the UK dairy industry during his banking career in the City of London. TAN will: - Meet with all PWG members to gain a full understanding of the project to date 5

47 Study all available existing documentation relevant to the project both before and during the assignment Meet with other relevant parties including commercial banks involved in rural lending in order to understand the current frameworks and challenges, plus the type of credit products that are used in the lending markets Perform an as is assessment of current rural lending volumes to include: o The approximate volumes of rural lending plus the trends over the past 5 years o The principal lending institutions committed to the sector plus commercial assessments of the credit products they offer o An assessment of the mix of lending to agricultural borrowers by segment, split by cereals, other crops, dairy, meat and poultry plus the 5 year trends o Bad debt experience of the lending banks plus recoveries performance (if such data is available) o Feedback from the bank credit officers on how things could be better Perform a could be assessment of how issues raised by the as is analysis could be improved through a streamlined warrant deposits scheme that could have the confidence of the lending institutions Make an assessment of any other collateral or regulatory measures that might be successful in addition to the warrant deposits Consider what changes might be required to bank products and lending procedures to gain best advantage from new legislation or measures Present his findings in a draft report to a meeting of the PWG Complete a Final Report one week later Collaboration: With PM/DPM/SPI Secretariat Reporting: Main: Project Manager; Secondary: SPI Secretariat. Estimated Number of Days: TAN s assignment is expected to take up 3 weeks of field work in Bucharest/rural areas. Output: Business-implementation analysis that will be prepared and presented (findings and conclusions included) before the PWG. 6

48 Annex 2 Convergence Romania Financial Sector Modernization Special Projects Initiative Public-Private Steering Committee SPI Project SPI Project on Rural Lending Project Working Group Meeting March 29 th, :00 13:00 Romanian Banking Institute Participants: Project Management Group Project Owner: Radu Negrea, RBA Board Member Project Manager: Claudiu Nicula, Manager, Raiffeisen Bank Deputy Project Manager: Aurica Stoica, Advisor to Minister, Ministry of Agriculture Project Technical Anchor Les Clarke, Consultant, World Bank Project Working Group Veronica Toncea, President, Rural Credit Guarantee Fund Dina Ilie, Expert, National Bank of Romania Silviu Ioan, Romanian Credit Guarantee Fund Vasile Coman, National Loan Guarantee Fund for SMEs Alexandru Sorescu, Romanian Stock Exchange Mihai Perju, Romanian Stock Exchange Dumitru Sandulescu, Romanian Stock Exchange Viorel Marin, National Grading Commission Adrian Radulescu, Agricultural Producers Association SPI Secretariat (Ramona Bratu, SPI Director for Bank Products and Services, Oana Nedelescu, SPI Director for Analytics and Policy) MINUTES I. Brief update on the project background and project status report 7

49 The Project Owner and the SPI Secretariat gave a brief update on the project background (SPI Committee mandate and activities; project initiative, objective and governance, etc.) and project status for the new members of the project working group (analytical work done so far and meetings held by project technical anchor and SPI Secretariat with various stakeholders). II. Presentation made by the project technical anchor The project technical anchor made a presentation of his preliminary report (attached). The presentation outlined what has been done so far in the area of lending on the grain market, what are the barriers and how these can be avoided, as follows: 1. Description of existing rural lending practices in Romania Outlining the characteristics of the rural lending practices differentiated on medium term and short term financing. 2. Description of the grain market operating in Romania Outlining the structure of the grain market by types of operators (producers, depositaries, traders). The analysis stresses the small farmers are at disadvantage under the current system, where they sell their grains for very low prices. In particular, the small farmers could benefit from financing through WDCs as this could result in a more equitable distribution of the profits obtained from grain trading. 3. Outline of the (potential and actual) impact of the revised Romanian legislation on warrant deposit certificates The current legislation has most features in place to allow for the operating of the WDC system. However, there is some fine tuning that is needed for encouraging the use of WDCs. 4. Description of the Bulgarian model developed in cooperation with USAID Bulgaria has in place a fully operational WDS system, featuring compulsory licensing of depositaries based on financial and technical compliance, ongoing supervision of depositaries and a liquid market for WDSs. 5. The role of the Ministry of Agriculture Outlining the work done so far by the Ministry (mainly sponsoring the passing of the enabling legislation and establishing the Licensing Commission) and recommendations for a stronger involvement in promoting the WDCs system. 6. The role of the Rural Credit Guarantee Fund Stressing the current role of RCGF and calling for a clarification and acceleration of its proposed involvement in the WDC Guarantee Fund. 7. The role of the insurance market Outlining the current involvement of insurance companies in covering risks pertaining to grain storage and handling. 8

50 8. The role of the Romanian Grading Commission Stressing the current role of the RGC and the potential for a strong involvement in the WDC system. RGC is an advocate of compulsory registration and licensing of depositaries. 9. The role of the Romanian Commodities Exchange At present, the RCE does not intermediate grain deals, however efforts are being made on bilateral deals on a brokerage basis. The RCE is an important pillar of the WDC system as it will secure the market liquidity and the provision of relevant information. 10. What are the barriers to successful implementation of WDCs? The barriers are both on the banks side and on the farmers side. Both parties lack confidence in the current system as there is no licensing and supervision of depositaries. 11. How can the barriers be addressed the public sector and the private sector approaches. There are two possible approaches for overcoming the current deadlock in the WDC system: a) a more active involvement of the public sector (mainly of the Ministry of Agriculture) in strengthening the current legal and institutional framework and b) a proactive stance of the private sector, where the key stakeholders (banks, insurers, farmers) could form a single entity to perform the following functions: licensing and supervision of depositaries, grain grading, provision of guarantee fund whose funding could come from a combination of Government grant, syndicated loan, equity, guarantee fees, grading and inspection fees, etc. III. Issues raised by the project working group 1. Revision of the terms of the WDCs Participants outlined the need to ensure that the titles issued by the depositaries WDCs are backed by cereals that are stored in the quantity and of the quality stated, and that depositaries can always return the cereals in the amount and the quality noted in the receipt. This is an important trust component of the process of converting agricultural commodities into tradable securities. Therefore, participants agree that it is necessary that WDCs include all value-specific information about the grain consignment, in particular the gluten content, where relevant. It was outlined that this kind of feature is important as it provides to the producers the comfort regarding the quality of the grains stored. However, this is not in the interest of the depositaries, which could potentially give back to producers grains of a lower quality. 2. Licensing of depositaries While the issue of a compulsory versus an optional remained open, a couple of participants, including the Ministry of Agriculture, think that there should be a mandatory authorization of depositaries. According to some participants, only the depositaries engaged in grain trading should be licensed. There are pros and cons of each option, which will be further analyzed by the project working group. 9

51 3. The WDC Guarantee Fund A system of risk assurance (i.e. indemnity fund) should provide comfort to those that entrust their crops for storage, trade or accept deposit certificates warrants as guarantees that the risks incurred are adequately covered. It is very important that there is clarity in the risks covered by the indemnity fund. In the opinion of the bank representative, as initially conceived, the indemnity fund does not cover credit risk and covers only some legal risks (i.e. risk of fraud by depositaries). If so, the role of the indemnity fund is not critical and banks could even assume some risks, which would be ultimately reflected in the pricing of the loan. The indemnity fund issue has to be clarified and detailed in respect of the risks covered and of procedures, allowing thus a pertinent opinion on the opportunity of its establishing. From the producers point of view, it is very important to be able to make a comparison between the costs incurred from bank financing backed by WDCs and bank financing backed by a pledge on the stock or other collateral. Participants agreed that it would be necessary to undertake such a cost-benefit analysis. The Romanian Stock Exchange representatives outlined that the role of the indemnity fund is very important at least at the inception of the WDC system as it could provided the necessary liquidity. In their view, the establishment of the indemnity could reduce the costs of transacting the grains through the stock exchange as the latter could give up requesting the guarantee requested for transactions. Over time, its role could be taken over by a deep and liquid market of WDCs ensured by the Romanian Stock Exchange. National Grain Grading Commission outlined that according to some previous estimates, an investment of EUR 3.75 mil. would be necessary to set up the indemnity fund and ensure its initial operations. Likewise, it was estimated that about 50 percent of this investment could be covered in the first two years of operation only from revenues from grading taxes. Likewise, participants concluded that they would like to deepen their understanding of the international experience with setting up the indemnity funds and the risks covered by them. This issue will be addressed in the final report of the technical anchor. 4. The grading system The grading of grains plays a very important role in ensuring the quality of the grains stored. At presents, the grading of the grains stored with depositaries is mandatory, according to the law. However, the grading is not always performed as it is either not requested by producers or offered by depositaries. Moreover, the state does not ensure the enforcement of the current legal provisions. 5. The rank of the WDCs The bank representative outlined the importance of having the WDCs assigned with a preferential ranking in order to encourage banks to take on these guarantees. The NBR representative stressed that this issue is beyond the central bank capacity to operate these changes and the matter should be further pursued with other competent authorities. 10

52 IV. Next steps Participants concluded that it would be important to discuss the issues of topical importance for the project (i.e. licensing mandatory versus optional; supervision; indemnity fund; public sector solution versus private sector solution, etc.) in a more structured manner. Likewise, participants stressed that it is necessary to have a better representations of banks in the working group. The following steps will be undertaken: 1. Project Technical Anchor will finalize the report by incorporating the suggestions received in the meeting and will send it to the project working group next week. 2. SPI Secretariat will prepare a list of the main issues that have to be discussed by the project working group, outlining their pros and cons, based on the material prepared by the technical anchor. Likewise, the SPI Secretariat will contact BCR and BRD, asking them to provide experts for the project working group. At the same time, the SPI Secretariat will also ask the Ministry of Public Finance representative to join the working group at its next meetings. The SPI Secretariat will prepare a compilation of the legislation that will be submitted to the entire project working group in order to facilitate a common understanding of the current legal framework. 3. All project working group members will provide feedback on the materials prepared by the SPI Secretariat on the specific topics to be addressed. The SPI Secretariat will prepare a centralized document outlining, by issues to be addressed by the working group, the pros and cons, the opinions of the PWG members as well as the possible solutions. This document will be discussed in the next project working group meeting. V. Next project working group meeting The next project working group meeting could be held in the week May

53 Annex 3 27 aprilie, 2007 Domnului Sorin Dogaru Preşedinte Asociaţia Patronală a Angrosiştilor de Cereale din România Director, Departamentul de Agricultură S.C. INTERAGRO SA Strada Verii nr. 1-3, Sector 2 Bucureşti Invitaţie pentru participare în cadrul grupului de lucru referitor la creditarea agriculturii Asociaţia Română a Băncilor, Banca Naţională a României, Ministerul Finanţelor Publice şi Autoritatea naţională pentru Protecţia Consumatorilor au realizat, cu sprijinul Programului de Convergenţă administrat de Banca Mondială, un parteneriat numit Comitetul de Iniţiativă pentru Proiecte Speciale (Comitetul IPS) pentru modernizarea sectorului bancar din România, Comitetul IPS a aprobat derularea unor proiecte menite să îmbunătăţească funcţionarea sistemului bancar sau să dezvolte activitatea bancară, printre care un proiect al cărui obiectiv este realizarea unui set de recomandări specifice (reguli şi reglementări, precum şi etape tehnice şi organizatorice de implementare) privind măsurile necesar a fi luate de către autorităţile relevante, participanţii de pe piaţă şi alte instituţii, pentru înlăturarea barierelor existente in calea dezvoltării finanţării agriculturii pe baza de certificate de depozit, în condiţii de risc acceptabile. Proiectul este coordonat de către domnul Radu Negrea, din partea A.R.B., iar grupul de lucru întruneşte reprezentanţi ai Ministerului Agriculturii, băncilor, Băncii Naţionale a României, Fondului pentru Garantarea Creditului Rural şi Comisiei Naţionale de Gradare. Dorind ca toate părţile implicate în derularea tranzacţiilor pe bază de certificate de depozit să ia parte la dialog în vederea identificării unor soluţii, vă invităm să vă alăturaţi acestei iniţiative prin desemnarea unui reprezentant al instituţiei dumneavoastră în cadrul grupului de lucru. Cu stimă, Florin Georgescu Prim viceguvernator Banca Naţională a României Radu Graţian Gheţea Preşedinte Asociaţia Română a Băncilor 12