Law No. 182/2025 on Agricultural Cooperatives Brings Major Changes for Romanian Farmers

Law No. 182/2025 on agricultural cooperatives, published in the Official Gazette on July 25 and effective as of August 1, 2025, introduces significant changes in the functioning and support of farmer associations in Romania.

The legislation reduces the minimum number of founding members to three, allows the combination of commercial activities with processing, and introduces a series of extended fiscal facilities, including a 10-year corporate tax exemption for cooperatives investing in their own infrastructure.

The new law also provides for the establishment of a network of county-level support centers for cooperatives, coordinated by agricultural directorates, and prioritizes these associative structures in the scoring grids for projects funded through the CAP Strategic Plan.

In the first weeks after its entry into force, 52 applications for the registration of new cooperatives have already been submitted, according to the National Trade Register Office (ONRC). Whether the effect will be long-lasting remains to be seen, but signals from the field are positive, especially among small farmers.

(Photo: Freepik)