The Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture (APIA) was established in 2005 as a need of organizing European funds allocated to agricultural development. APIA is being directly responsible for implementing an integrated administration and control system to manage the budget of Common Agricultural Policy allocated to Romania after the integration in the European Union.

The IT Solution for APIA is managing the system of payments to agricultural land and other mechanisms of the Common Agricultural Policy implemented within the European Union. It is a complex system, which makes possible the distribution and check of aid for Romanian farmers. Its implementation and application guarantees that transactions financed from the European Union budget within the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) are performed in accordance with the binding provisions under national law and EU legislation.

Policy Context

Since January 2007, Romania have benefited from agriculture funds from the European Union (EU). The direct payments represent asupport from the EU towards the farmers who are eligible and who will submit an application of payment on the specific surface.

The Romanian government had to provide a framework to ensure the administration and the control of all the farmers' payment requests - an essential condition to be able to benefit from the EU fund.

The general objectives priorities for the present Government are:

• Increasing the contribution to the development of comprehensive,harmonious and sustainable development of rural areas.
• Reconstruction of ownership over land and forest.
• To put an end to the concession of privatization of assets and agricultural land and agricultural services.
• To stimulate and support farmers for the establishment of true agricultural and professional organizations.
• To increase profitability for farmers, recovery and development of animal husbandry and horticulture.
• To improve procedures for the construction budget and usage with maximum efficiency.
• Financial means for the internal and external resources,development of agriculture, food industry and forestry, in accordance wit the rules of environmental protection.

Observing EU regulations and taking into account the specific regulations of Romania,the project has set the following objectives:

• The System ensures the compatibility between the national programmes and the EU ones, and where appropriate, it facilitates the realization of a unique and correct record of the balance payment balancesheet. This is facilitated by using the same geographical information and client information like IACS (the database for farmers' registration).
• The system improves the activity for fraud detection and control by using some complex data storage and retrieval.
• The system ensures a significant reduction of the administration costs by using a single data storage system of common data used within the different work functions.
• The system is implemented by using some existing standard technologies and platforms that allow the development, so that the maintenance and development costs are reduced, while the dependence on a certain supplier, should also be reduced.
• The system provides specialty consultancy services, preparation and assistance to deliver the software products supplied and to support the process of specialty knowledge development within the Payments Agency
• The system provides the possibility to monitor at any moment the state of any aid request, starting from a single data source.
• The system provides the possibility to issue, in an easy and quick manner, audit reports, statistical reports as well as general reports starting from a single unified data source.
• The system provides the possibility to easily and quickly change the user interface so that it is in accordance with existing and future web standards.
• The system supports the current procedures in hard copy format,with the respective modifications, so that is performs a more efficient requests processing.
• All work procedures and the hard copy forms at the level of entities, including all subsequent modification in view of improving the requests processing system, are translated into electronic procedures and forms and in totality in compliance with this.

The system is accessible through the technology of standard Internet browser, in order to facilitate in the future the public access (farmers). This is a long term vision which respects the EU directives regarding the implementation of the national electronic system of administration and simplifies the citizens access to the governmental services. The system ensures an audit module that reflects the procedural steps and is in total agreement with the procedures for internal audit.

Description of target users and groups

According to the National Institute of Statistics, for a total of civil employment (9 million people), 20% work in agriculture and6.1% in fishing and fish farming.

Romania has one of the most fragmented agricultural properties among Europe and the largest numberof farmers. Of the 1 240 000 farmers, almost53 000 farmers have surfaces between ten and 50 hectares, about 16 400 have surfaces between 50 and 1 000 hectares and around 800 farmers haveover 1 000 hectares.

Currently,the annual subsidy for the area is in the amount of 107 Euros per hectare,which is paid from funds allocated by the European Union (60.7 per hectare),and the difference from the national budget. Agricultural activities generate less than 40% of the income of rural inhabitants in Romania, as specified by the "World Development Report - 2008: Agriculture for Development", published by the World Bank. Statistics show that employment in agriculture remains on a higher level.World Bank report shows that, while in industrialized countries like France "family farms predominate, and producers associations have an essential role for success",in Romania persists a bipolar farmer structure. According to the World Bank, small farms may be partially successful business as long as their performances will be improved by joining organizations of producers. However, the reports shows that many small farms in Romania will have to make fundamental changes in terms of occupational orientation or the transfer of property. Without a significant industrialization, the Romanian economy remained predominantly agricultural, most of the work force being employed in this sector.

Before '89

In 1949 agricultural land was "collectivized" as rural households entered collective farms with their land, livestock, and other assets. The collectivization involved tremendous human and social costs while the issue of economic advantages of collective farms remained largely undecided. Peasants were forced to join cooperative units; they had no rights in the administration of common property and earnings distribution. The cooperative has destroyed the private property in agriculture, created a system which continued pauperization. Romanian peasant became employed on their own land. Income in agriculture was very modest.

After 1990, Romanian peasants faced dramatic challenges. The agricultural enterprises became private companies. Ownership in agriculture was particularly fragmented; agricultural property would not exceed on average 1.5 ha. and under these conditions most of the peasants became farmers or gardeners. Missing centralized direction of agriculture, which could have significant financial resources, irrigation systems and land facilities have fallen into abandoning. The Technology Park has not been restored so that the peasants have returned to conduct field work, with plug, scythe and spade.

The harvest diminished, both in terms of grain and technical crops plants. Vineyards and plantations faced a pronounced degradation. Financing agriculture only by budget is still insufficient. Most of the peasants have limited access to bank loans because they can't provide any guarantees.

Since the beginning of the year 2000, the decline has stopped. We assisted to a gradual recovery and creation the conditions for boosting agriculture, forestry and food industry and availability for international economic exchanges and integration into European Union structures. In this context, European Funds contribute to improve the competitiveness of agriculture and forestry, the environment and the countryside, the quality of life and the management of economic activity in rural areas.

Description of the way to implement the initiative

In 2007, Romania was allotted 440 million Euro to grant direct payments per hectare, under the condition to manage these funds according to the EU regulations. A complex information system was the main responsible to support the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS), a division of APIA (Agency of Payments and Interventions in Agriculture) within the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture. The realization of the administration and control system was awarded through a public tender to the consortium formed by SIVECO Romania and ABG Ster Project Poland (known presently as ABG Spin SA). The object of the contract between APIA and the consortium was the development of the software for the IT system of APIA and IACS, an extremely complex system.

The development ofthe project consisted of 5 stages : implementation, system analysis, system design, application development, testing and approval of applications. Unlike the other EU countries that developed a similar system in order to comply with the EU regulations, Romania had only one and a half year for the setting up and implementation of the IT system for APIA, and this was a real challenge.

The result is a very large and complex system:

• 1 650 000 agricultural physical land blocks (1 physicalblock includes several parcels).
• A high number of farmers records in the database - over 1 450 000.
• Over 750 000 external users and around 5 000 internal users.
• A very complex database and application, where a large number of users have access 24/7.

The software development for the Romanian Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture (APIA) had 2 stages: the development and implementation stage, and the warranty and technical support stage. The First Phase, comprising all stages, from system analysis to implementation, was aimed at:

• Producing the integrated system core to ensure the administration and control of the financial aid granted to farmers from FEOGA funds, in conformity with CAP.
• Providing the national system compatible with the EU one.
• Using the standard technologies and open development platform.
• Provide the beneficiary with the best professional experience in consultancy, training and service.

The Second Phase consists of a warranty period of one year, and an additional 1 year period of technical support, starting from the date of the system acceptance by the beneficiary. The IT system developed and implemented for APIA is 100% operational.

Subsidies are granted in the form of direct payments per surface managed by the Integrated System Management and Control (IACS) and the measures of market mechanisms for the implementation of trade under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Thus, the Agency for Payments and Intervention Agriculture administers the system of certificates of import and export,guarantees for the import and export of agricultural products, develops and implements procedures on the implementation of intervention system for agricultural products.

The subsystems of the IACS on the registration of farmers, administrative control, on the spot check are functional. 97% of the total payments to farmers were achieved. The identification module parcel (LPIS), which integrates all the IACS systems, is also operational. The need to align the working procedures of APIA to the European Commission regulations and amendments of specifications of the functional system to meet these requirements have been imposed in natural adjustments to the system and have generated replanings in implementing and development . As the system grew, more complexand improved versions were developed. They stood in accordance with the requirements of the beneficiary and were developed in a very short time.

Technology solution

The software solution for The Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture consists of seven basic components.These components are:

1. A system for registration of farmers - this is the component with the most centralized database for the organization of the categories of information on farmers. It was taken in full by SIVECO Romania, first developing a pilot system (Farmer Registry Speed-Up), which was then generalized and interfaced at the registration areas of requests for support.
2. The integrated administration and control system (IACS - Integrated Administration and Control System) is the main component of the IT system of APIA and consists of 5 modules: Data Capture, Administration Control, Land Control, Payment Calculation, Payment Authorization. The module was developed by SIVECO Romania in cooperation with specialists from ABG SPIN Poland.
3. The identification system of agricultural parcels (LPIS - Land Parcels Identification System). Since 2008, SIVGIS from SIVECO Romania provides visualization and maintenance of physical blocks (by physical block we mean a parcel of reference).
4. System management schemes regulating the market (MR - Market Regulation) - achieved component (designed, developed and implemented) by SIVECO Romania, with the advice of specialists overseeing the market.
5. Management system of measures for rural development (RD - Rural Development) - component carried out in collaboration with the consortium of companies - ABG STER Project Poland and SIVECO Romania for the management of rural development measures.
6. Financial accounting system - component carried out by SIVECO Romania to ensure the processing of financial-accounting activities of APIA.
7. Document management system (DMS SIVADOC = Document Management System) - component carried out by SIVECO Romania, which provides document management, bringing significant advantages for APIA as compared with the traditional system.

The list below includes some important characteristics that the system had to ensure starting with its first stage of implementation:

• Common database with the beneficiary's information regarding the farmers' registration, information that is necessary and used in common by all schemes. Access to these data for introduction, updating and deletion, is ensured by the functionality of the Farmers Registry module of the application.
• Unique point of access to all data and functionalities available on the end users desktop, by means of the web browser standard technology.
• Query capacity at SQL level of spatial data and access to spatial data through an Open API.
• Integration with the processing systems of other schemes, mainly for common usage of spatial data. Access to spatial data for these applications is ensured through the functionality of the application layer.
• Automatic electronic data exchange with the financial accounting system.
• Support for the requirements of the EU Regulations. The system had to be very flexible and to allow the inclusion of changes set in the Regulations without needing significant software re-design.
• Support for internal and external audit requirements.
• Integration with the desktop productivity tools to facilitate the realization of forms and standard letters.
• Support for realization of pre-defined and ad-hoc reports, both on request and on a schedule basis, by using standard reporting instruments.

The system is developed over an Oracle Database. The system's interface is made using web technologies: Intel X86 Hardware Architecture, HPUX Linux Operating System, Java6.0, JBoss 4.0.5 Application Server, Oracle Real Application Cluster, SVN Version Control System, JIRA Incident Tracker, Enterprise Java Beans 2, Hibernate 2, ANSI SQL, PL SQL, Strut, Ant, XML, Xalan, Xerces, DOM, Jakarta commons, Log4J, EJB3, Josso single signon, JBPM Workflow engine, Web Services, which will allow access to theapplication using a simple web browser.

Technology choice: Standards-based technology

Main results, benefits and impacts

The social impact of this project is huge. In one way or the other, almost all Romanian farmers were influenced by the changes that the IT solution has induced.

Filling and tracking applications for funding, as well as all the related documents, are made using a modern system that facilitates permanent access to information regarding the situation of an application. The process of granting the funds, from submission to the final payment, is held in a transparent and efficient way. By using the system, the process flow takes place in real time. The time needed to access the funds is substantially reduced improving in this way the citizens' experience as main beneficiaries in working with the administration.Another important benefit brought by the implementation of the system is a better management, tracking and submitting applications for funding. Submission and follow up of the aid requests is done with the support of an easy and modern way of accessing and operating the available funds.

Implementing such a system is in line with EU directives on the implementation of the electronic national administration and easier access from the citizens to government services. The waiting time is dramatically reduced, improving the farmers relationship with the administration.

From the total number of farmers (1 241 402) 1 117 860 farmers have received the amounts of payments related to the single area of national direct complementary payments. In the area of approx. 9 300 000 hectares for which has been claimed support in 2007, payments were made for 7 655 670 hectares.

The consortium of IT companies, led by SIVECO Romania also included ABG STER Project Poland, who have provided the software solution. They have succeeded to track compliance with all the contractual terms in accordance with the requirements and specifications received, as well as the realization of all the deficiencies noticed by the Commission. As the system develops, there have been full and improved versions according to the requirements of thebeneficiary, in a very short time.

In this project, the APIA employees have often expressed positive remarks on the chance to work in such a demanding project. The members of the project management team have often expressed their satisfaction to manage part of a complex project in which the communication activity in all directions was a very important component. All the members of the project team have appreciated the opportunity for fast promoting in higher positions and the confidence in young employees that was constantly shown by the management of the project.

The APIA project is a big step forward in the direction of the transparency of the government and the project has also an important impact on the development of the agriculture field in Romania due to a a better management and follow up, and realization of aid request processing, resulting in increasing efficiency of APIA activities.

Since 2007, the Romanian Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture manages the European funds for the largest number of farmers from Europe - more than 1,2 million. The system manages a complex database that has a very large number of users that access this application on a daily basis. It includes 1 650 000 agricultural blocs (1 bloc containing several parcels), over 1 200 000 farmers, over 750 000 external users, 5 000 internal users. Following the major efforts APIA made - until 30 June 2008 - payments from the European funds and national budget amounting to approximately 622 046 570 Euros for all the farmers who have submitted applications support.

 The project was repeatedly appreciated as a model of development in region and a model of good management. The system ensures consistency between the national support schemes for farmers and between the support schemes of the EU and evidence of farmers, farms and agricultural holdings, calculation and authorizing payments on the farm, including quality control and audit, effective enforcement of payments to farmers, payments accounting - standard accounting procedures based on the accounts of revenues and expenses.

The system supports a better management, monitoring and implementation of processing applications for funding, that come from the beneficiaries of the measures administered by APIA. This brings more advantages like increased efficiency of the APIA activities as well as a rigorous implementation of the system in compliance with EU directives regarding the implementation of the national electronic system of administration and an easier access for the citizens to governmental services.

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Track record of sharing

The APIA is now replicated at the Payment Agency for Rural Development and Fishing (APDRP).

Founded in 2006, the agency provides technical and financial implementation of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and monitoring of the SAPARD - Special accession  programme for agriculture and rural development. APDRP is organized in 42 county offices and 8 regional centers. The system implemented in this project covers the entire structure of APDRP.

The main directions of investments are financed by the EAFRD that is a natural continuation of SAPARD Program in Agro-industrial processing improvements, support the development of semi-farm livelihood management of forests and forest products, development and modernization of rural infrastructure in general and the Romanian village.

The project implementation started in 2007 and is now in the stage of completion.

Project objectives:

The main objective of this project consisted in a system of processing applications for funding for Rural Development (SPCDR) system aimed at more efficient processing of applications for funding.

Benefits of implementing the system at APDRP:

1. The system supports compatibility between the national and the EU laws, and facilitates the correct registration of the balance of payments. This is facilitated by using the same information about the client from IACS (database registration farmer).
2. The system provides a substantial reduction of administrative costs by using a single system for data storage used in common various functions work.
3. The system can monitor status at any time of each application from a single source of data.
4. The system supports the current format on paper, providing a more efficient activity for processing of applications.
5. All procedures and forms on paper from the entities, including all subsequent modifications to improve the system of processing applications,are incorporated in electronic forms and procedures are working entirely with them.
6. The system provides a way to audit and monitor that the applications reflect that the procedural steps are fully in agreement with the internal audit.
7.  Provision of consultancy,training and assistance provided to complete the software and contribute to the development of knowledge and expertise within the Agency for Payments and Management Authority.
8. The system provides management and project management activities,effectively, minimizing delays and errors resulted from the development process.

APDRP Project is extremely complex and important. Management of European funds, adjusting agricultural policies in Romania to the EU standards, increasing the market competitiveness of our community is a strategic goal,which requires professionalism, experience and perseverence.

Lessons learnt

One of the main lesson learnt during the implementation of this project focused on the importance of having an extensive knowledge regarding the mechanisms for the implementation of domestic and European laws among farmers. Many problems occurred because of a lack of consistency in the communication with the public administration. Many efforts were made to eliminate the misunderstanding and distrust and have the information disseminated to all the parties involved.

For this project to be successful and eliminate any cause of voluntarily or involuntarily errors, we learnt that each application submitted by farmers must be administratively controlled.

Any complex system works if the people involved are responsible and professionals. The team needs to be motivated and have all the information regarding critical issues and a good communication between all those involved (governmental representatives, EU representative, private companies, farmers, auditors etc) was essential for the success of the project.

For the entire project to run efficiently we needed to ensure committed human resources that understood the complexity and the strategic objective of this project. The people involved had to accumulate experience as the project progressed and they need to prove the ability to commit to short deadlines and new modifications due to many changes in the EU regulations and national laws regarding the agricultural domain.

When managing such a big team which was involved in the implementation of this huge project, the value of sharing good practices as well as the documentation and an efficient communication is evident. It was compulsory that all the employees involved in the project share sensitive information on how they overcame obstacles. This helped the project managers not to make the same mistakes again and avoid increased costs by overrunning the budget or the delay of the project. All the improvements took into consideration the final customer -the farmers who needed a user friendly system for receiving payments. New and improved IT systems are not successful unless the end user has significant benefits by using it.

For the entire duration of the project all the members of the team had to be prepared to act if a crisis situation appeared. The project coordinator had a central list of contacts that included phone numbers and e-mails, so that all the responsibles involved in this huge project could be contacted anytime, and be able to provide solutions to various problems that might occur.

When conducting a Project Implementation Review (PIR), updating the lessons-learnt documentation, as well as holding a lessons-learnt review meeting, was critical.

Sharing experiences, positive as well as negative ones, represented an important step.The bi-weekly meeting was a chance to share information regarding good practices and efficient ways to overcome different obstacles. All the people involved gave their feedback so we could centralize all the critical issues and resolve them for the next phase of the project.

Scope: National