2022/0163/E
EC/EFTA
ES Spain
  • C00A - AGRICULTURE, FISHING AND FOODSTUFFS
2022-06-20
2022-03-25

AGRICULTURE, FISHING AND FOOD PRODUCTS

Royal Decree regulating the general register of best available techniques on livestock holdings and the support for the calculation, monitoring and reporting of livestock emissions.

The draft consists of twelve articles, one additional provision, two transitional, three final and two annexes, with the following content:

Article 1. Aim and scope of application. The objectives of the standard are laid down and the scope of the standard is specified.
Article 2. Definitions. The definitions to be applied for the purposes of the Royal Decree and the rules in which they are contained are laid down.
Article 3. General Register of Best Available Techniques in Holdings. It is established that the register shall include the data managed by the competent authorities of the Autonomous Communities, which shall be established in a database integrated in the ECOGAN computerised system, and that this system shall be made available to the Autonomous Communities for use.
Article 4. Communication between the Autonomous Communities and the General State Administration. It lays down the requirements for the transmission of information between competent communities, and for access by them to the data in the Register for the information for which they are responsible.
Article 5. Obligations of farm owners. The obligations of farm owners in relation to the information to be communicated to the competent authorities are laid down.
Article 6. Communication and entry in the General Register. This article establishes that the owners of farms shall report the information in the Annex to the competent authorities for entry in the register.
Article 7. Estimation of emissions. It is established that ECOGAN will be the national support for the calculation, monitoring and reporting of emissions in livestock, using the Annex data provided by farm owners to the competent authorities. These calculations shall be valid for the purposes of their reflection in the Spanish System of Inventories (SEI), in the Register of Emissions and Pollutant Sources (PRTR), and for the calculation of the carbon footprint in the Register created by Royal Decree 163/2014 of 14 March establishing the register of carbon footprint, offsetting and carbon dioxide absorption projects. These emissions may be consulted by farmers and the competent authorities.
Article 8. Checks. It is laid down that the competent authorities may check the Annex data reported by farmers and the situation of farms may be updated on the basis of administrative measures taken.
Article 9. Table for the management of the livestock sectors and the general register of the best techniques available on livestock holdings. Provision is made for the possibility of setting up technical working groups within the Bureau for a number of technical functions related to environmental aspects of Spanish livestock farming.
Article 10. Annual report. It is stipulated that the Directorate-General for Agricultural Productions and Markets will issue an annual report on livestock emissions, which will be submitted to the Bureau for the Management of the Livestock Sectors.
Article 11. Confidentiality. This article establishes that the information provided by farm owners shall comply with the implementing rules on the protection of personal data and the guarantee of digital rights.
Article 12. Sanctions regime. Reference is made to the legislation with legal status which lays down the applicable penalties.
Sole additional provision. This provision establishes that the operation of the General Register of Best Available Techniques shall be managed by the personal and material resources of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
First transitional provision. This provision establishes that the owners of farms which are not registered in the registers of the Autonomous Communities, farms registered but which do not include the data in the Annex, or that have undergone changes to those registered, must provide the competent authorities with the updated data necessary for their correct registration.
Second transitional provision. This provision provides for the inclusion of data held by the competent authorities in the General Register.
First final provision. This provision mentions that the Royal Decree is issued on the basis of the exclusive competence of the State in matters of basic environmental protection legislation, without prejudice to the powers of the Autonomous Communities to lay down additional protection rules.
Second final provision. Amends Article 22 of the Regulation on access to plant genetic resources for agriculture and food and those cultivated for other purposes, and amends a number of royal decrees on plant products, approved by Royal Decree 429/2020 of 3 March
Third final provision. It empowers the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in agreement with the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, to approve, by order, on a proposal from the Bureau for the Management of the Livestock Sectors, the technical protocols to ensure the coordination and operation of the computerised database throughout the State. It also empowers the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in agreement with the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic
Challenge, to amend the annexes to this Royal Decree by ministerial order.
Forth final provision. It establishes that the entry into force of the Royal Decree shall be the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of the State.

ANNEX I. Minimum data contained in the General Register of Best Available Techniques applied on the farm.
This Annex sets out the data to be communicated by the competent authorities to the General Register of Best Available Techniques in Holdings. The Annex is subdivided into two sections (Section 1 for porcine species and Section 2 for birds) containing the following sections:
- Relating to the whole of the farm
- Concerning particular information on the environmental characteristics of the farm
- Production data and food
- Storage and management of slurry or liquid manure from housing
- Storage and management of solid manure from housing
- Energy consumption and use
- Water consumption and use, and wastewater management

ANNEX II. Category of animal according to the Zootechnical Documents establishing the Food Balance of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in livestock farming. The Annex is subdivided into two sections: section 1 for porcine species and Section 2 for birds.