In connection with the bill on amending the Act on the management of agricultural property of the State Treasury and certain other acts (hereinafter: ‘the Amending Bill’), the Act of 11 April 2003 on the shaping of the agricultural system (Journal of Laws 2003 No. 64 item 592) (hereinafter: the ‘Act on the shaping of the agricultural system’ or the ‘Act’) is also subject to amendment, as discussed below.
The proposed changes covered by the amendment:
(i) non-application of the provisions of the Act on Formation of the Agricultural System to the area of agricultural land smaller than 0.3 hectares (so far the interpretation of the notion of agricultural property has been inconsistent and the prevailing interpretation has been to treat such agricultural property in terms of the concept of perpetual usufruct),
(ii) modification of the pre-emptive right by extending the pre-emptive right of the National Support Centre for Agriculture to shares and stocks in a parent company which owns shares and stocks in a company which is the owner or perpetual usufructuary of agricultural property with the area of at least 5 ha,
(iii) the obligation to farm for a period of at least 5 years and the prohibition on disposal for a period of at least 5 years does not apply to real property, in respect of which, following the acquisition, a Local Spatial Development Plan providing for a non-agricultural use has been adopted.
In conclusion, the proposed amendments should be assessed positively and should allow greater freedom in real property transactions, in particular by introducing a provision on the exclusion of the application of the Act’s provisions to agricultural land of less than 0.3 ha.
2 September 2023
