The National Paying Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture (NPA) was established by the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in 1999 for the purpose of administration of the support, provided for agricultural and rural development by the Republic of Lithuania and the European Union (EU).
The objective of the NPA activity is the effective and transparent implementation of EU and national support measures for agriculture, rural development and fisheries. At present, the NPA administers measures under Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, supported by European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), Direct Payments supported by European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF), Foreign Trade Mechanisms (EAGF), measures of Lithuanian Fisheries Sector for 2014-2020 supported by European Fisheries Fund (EFF), state aid.
While performing its activities the NPA puts all the efforts to provide the EU and national support to the farmers in the most efficient, expeditious and transparent way. The institution is continuously looking for new approaches in striving to simplify and reduce the administrative burden both to the farmers and the NPA staff with the account of its customers’ aspirations and proposals on possibilities of further operational improvement. The NPA is among the public institutions in Lithuania, most actively introducing innovations related both to the technical and administrative aspects of its daily operation.
The NPA jointly with several other EU paying agencies has not only submitted to the EC proposals on simplification of CAP (reducing the number of sanctions for farmers for minor infringements and refusing controls of excessive requirements), but also has initiated a revolutionary idea “support without application”, which has been presented to the EC in the form of a Memorandum, agreed upon by the other EU PAs. This idea is feasible basing on the information of the relevant registers and satellite imagery, allowing to identify the status of the farmers’ cultivated land as well as farmers’ compliance with the requirements. The implementation of the idea would allow to abandon controls, reduce the support administration costs, thus focusing mainly on consultancy and prevention of irregularities.