Enabling factors and policies for the development of agricultural cooperatives, producer groups and producer organisations in Romania

The transformations of the agri-food system in the context of multiple interconnected crises, as well as those that the economy and society must undertake towards a sustainable future, require collective action, with an important role played by producer organisations, agricultural cooperatives and producer groups. The legal framework for establishing modern agricultural cooperatives in Romania was set by Law no. 566 of 2004. The annual registrations of agricultural cooperatives at the National Trade Registry Office have varied quite a lot, being influenced, first of all, by public policies with an impact on their development. Of these, the most important have proven to be those regulating the fiscal facilities that agricultural cooperatives and their members can benefit from. Nowadays, agricultural cooperatives play an important role in the agri-food system in Romania, holding almost one third of primary agricultural production and a quarter of the distribution and valorisation of agri-food products, making it imperative to maintain those public policies favourable to their future development.