Contribution to product quality certification costs - MQTrentino

Art. 48 paragraphs 1 and 3 LP 4/2003 is aimed at incentivising the adhesion of companies to quality schemes for agricultural and food products, as well as the continuation of participation in these schemes, through the granting of contributions to partially cover the costs of certification recognised at provincial level.

The grant may not be paid in advance but will only be settled in full.

The following documentation must be submitted together with the application for payment of the grant

- detailed report of the control activity carried out, with an analytical list of the costs incurred and signed by the appointed or authorised certification body; the controls indicated in the report must be certified after the date of submission of the grant application

- a copy of the receipted invoices issued, after the date of submission of the grant application, by the appointed or authorised certification body for the checks carried out after the submission of the grant application: the receipted invoices shall show the assigned unique project code (CUP);

- declaration in lieu of affidavit by the legal representative stating that the VAT on certification expenses is an actual cost for the company;

- declaration in lieu of affidavit by the legal representative on the applicability of the withholding tax referred to in Article 28, paragraph 2, of Presidential Decree 600/1973.

Provincial Law no. 4 of 28 March 2003, Article 48(1) and (3) regulates the 'Facilitations for product quality', stipulating that 'The Province may grant aid to the entities indicated in Article 2(1)(a), (b), (c), (d) and (e), as well as to consortia for the protection of PDO, PGI, IGT, DOC and DOCG to encourage control programmes in the production process to guarantee designations of origin and certificates of specific character, with a maximum intervention for six years of 100 per cent of the cost of the controls carried out in the first year, reduced by 15 percentage points for each year thereafter, so that in the sixth year the maximum intervention is 25 per cent. This aid may also be granted to protection consortia." This aid may also be granted to quality productions recognised and certified at provincial level.

The beneficiaries of the aids for the encouragement of control programmes in the production process to guarantee quality productions recognised and certified at provincial level are

1) the subjects indicated in art. 2, paragraph 1, letters a), b), c), of Provincial Law 4/2003 (individual agricultural enterprises, companies established for the management of agricultural enterprises, public and private bodies, direct tenants of agricultural enterprises)

2) the entities indicated in Article 2(1)(d) of Provincial Law 4/2003 (agricultural and agricultural product collecting, processing and marketing cooperatives and their consortia, agricultural associations)

3) the entities indicated in Article 2(1)(e) of Provincial Law 4/2003(agricultural producers' associations recognised in accordance with the relevant legislation in force,)

4) the consortia for the protection of PDO, PGI, IGT, DOC and DOCG brands

5) small and medium-sized enterprises in the agri-food sector, single or associated.

Applications for support, drawn up in accordance with the forms prepared by the Rural Development Policy Service and available on the Province's institutional website, are to be submitted between 1 January and 30 June of the year in which the controls are carried out in the production process to guarantee quality production recognised and certified at provincial level.

Applications submitted after the deadline will be excluded from access to the support provided.

Applications for support may be submitted for a maximum period of six years from the first year of submission.

The reporting deadline may be extended, at the request of the beneficiary and for reasons not directly attributable to the beneficiary, only once, subject to a reasoned request to be submitted before the deadline. Failure to meet the extended reporting deadline will result in forfeiture of the grant awarded.

Applications for aid must be drawn up in accordance with the model approved by decision of the Director of the Rural Development Policy Service, and must contain

(a) the subject of the application

b) the applicant's identification data

c) the amount of expenditure requested for each specification

d) an indication as to whether the VAT on the certification expenses constitutes an actual cost for the company;

e) IBAN of the dedicated current account

f) indication of the first year of application for the contribution.

The following documentation must be attached to the application

- programme of inspection activities to be carried out by the body authorised by the Autonomous Province of Trento, with an analytical list of expenses that will be incurred for product certification, signed for acceptance by both parties

- any copy of the minutes of the decision of the competent body approving the programme of control activities;

- declaration in lieu of affidavit by the legal representative that the company, with reference to eligible costs, has not benefited from other State aids;

- copy of the licence contract for the use of the Qualità Trentino mark.