Romania

PRO Romanian Food Association – APAR is a non-profit legal person registered in
Romania in the Register of Associations and Foundations with no. 21 PJ/2012, having
CIF 3001344, Transparency Register: 116915712797-73.
APAR is a non-governmental, non-profit organization aimed primarily to the
quality and promotion of Romanian products in the agri-food sector.
The goal, objectives and activities of the association are independent from public
institutions, political parties, ideologies, doctrines and religions.The participation of beneficiaries in the actions of the organization is not conditioned by their membership in certain ideologies, doctrines, religions or other organizations.

In the governing bodies of the association there are no representatives of public

institutions or political parties.
The statutory decision-making body of the association is the General Assembly of
Members, and the executive management is provided by a Board of Directors
consisting of 5 elected members: one President, 3 Vice-President and a Secretary
General.
The organization was founded in 2012 and operates continuously since the date of
its establishment. The financial reports are transmitted to the tax authorities
according to the legal provisions, and the important activities as well as periodic
financial reports are communicated to the Single Register of Transparency of
Interests (RUTI) and to the EU Transparency Register.
APAR does not register debts to the state budget and local budget.
During the activity, APAR was involved in the following projects:
Development and implementation of legislation on promotion measures in the
National Rural Development Program – PNDR 2014 – 2020, Priority Axis 3A;
Development of the National Strategic Plan – PNS 2021 – 2027 (the future Rural
Development Program);
Management of the “VAT Cut” project for food, through public debate activities,
the conviction of national and European public decision-makers, elaboration of the
legislative framework and its implementation;
Implementation of 5 % VAT rate for certified quality products;
Amendment of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 25 October 2011 on informing consumers about food – “Saving the
Little Romanian” campaign in 2013;
Involvement in the harmonization of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement with
national legislation, i.e. Law 98/2016 on the treatment of the procurement of social
services and other specific services;
Measures to avoid the marketing of products with double standard quality on the
single European market;
Implementation of the UTP Directive (incorrect commercial practices) in national
legislation;
Development of the Internationalization Program – PINT on financing the
individual participation of economic operators in exhibitions with international
character;
Coordination of GLT4 RNDR “Quality and marketing of agro-food products”.
National and European projects in which APAR was involved:
In 2022 APAR received approval for project “Dialogue for Consensus” regarding the
introduction of common systems and standards in local public administration that
optimizes beneficiary-oriented processes in Ilfov region, within POCA program.
In 2022 APAR received approval for project “I know what I want! How do I support
it?” regarding the introduction of common systems and standards in local public
administration that optimizes beneficiary-oriented processes in Cluj region, within
POCA program.
In 2022 APAR signed a 3-years grant for the project “Promotion of EU fresh fruits
basket in UK, Norway, Switzerland)” within the EU - REA.
In 2020 APAR signed a 3-years grant for the project “Promotion of European
canned and processed fruits and vegetables in Scandinavia and Baltic EU Member
States in Internal Market (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Lithuania and Estonia)”
within the EU - CHAFEA.
In 2020 APAR implemented the project “Ro AgriFood Hackathon – HAR 2020”
PRO ROMANIAN
FOOD ASSOCIATION
APAR
through SmartAgriHubs within Horizon 2020 project - RUR–2018-1.
In 2019 APAR finalized the implementation of the project “Developing an
alternative public policy in the field of promoting Romanian exports” within POCA
program.
In 2018 APAR finalized the implementation of the project “Improving the
Competitiveness of Farms in Dolj County” within NRDP 2014-2020
In 2018 APAR finalized the implementation of the project “Improving the
Competitiveness of Farms in Olt County” within NRDP 2014-2020
In 2013, APAR became a member of the National Federation of Manufacturers in
Agriculture, Food Industry and Connected Services in Romania – PRO AGRO, the
only federation with representativeness for the food industry and agriculture sector.
Within PRO AGRO, APAR took over the position of representation from Europeanlevel
civil dialogue groups for “Quality and Promotion of Products”.
In this capacity our representatives have actively participated in the drafting of the
new Regulation on the Promotion of Food Products – Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014
of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on information
and promotion actions relating to agricultural products implemented on the
domestic market and in third countries. As a member of PRO AGRO, APAR acquired
the status of member of the Romanian Export Council, organizing the most
important external promotion actions for Romanian producers.
For the first time in Romania, in 2012, APAR financed the creation of a concept to
promote the image of Romanian agri-food products at international trade fairs, a
concept presented to the public at the European Food Exhibition 2012 which took
place in Barcelona, Spain. After this event, more than 35 domestic and international
promotion actions followed, actions that contributed to the increase of image and
consumer trust in Romanian agri-food products.
The participation of APAR in the Social Dialogue nationally regulated by Law 62/2011
is achieved through membership of the Confederation of UPR BUSINESSROMANIA.
In 2018 APAR fulfilled one of its main objectives, namely the establishment of the
Agency for Quality and Marketing of Food Products – the structure in public-private
partnership, having as its functions the management of national and European
quality systems as well as the promotion of high value-added quality products, a
project completed in June 2019 by the adoption of Law 133/2019.
Since 2020, APAR President Decebal-Stefanita PADURE has been appointed by the
General Secretariat of the Government and the Council of Europe has validated him
as Romania’s representative of the European Economic and Social Committee
(EESC) on behalf of employers for the period 2020-2025. In this capacity Mr. Padure is
the member of the coordination bureau of the NAT section (agriculture and rural
development) and in the REX section (External Economic Relations of the EU). At the
same time, it provides for a 2-and-a-half-year term, the EU-Moldova Civil Society
Platform and the E.U. DAG in relation with the Republic of Moldova.
APAR has over 145 members active in the food industry and whose turnover (2.4
billion Euro represents 26.5 % and the number of employees 17.2 % of the total
Romanian food sector, according to the INS.
President of the Pro Romanian Food Association – APAR Decebal-Stefanita PADURE