**Free agricultural land ownership, new procedures proposed: Deadlines that citizens must respect**
The government proposes to change the procedures for the free transfer of ownership of agricultural land of former cooperatives and former agricultural enterprises. The changes are foreseen in the draft law that intervenes in Law No. 20/2020 “On the completion of the transitional processes of ownership”, submitted for public consultation.
The proposal sets out the steps that the State Cadastral Agency should follow when reviewing requests, as well as deadlines for citizens who do not appear for land measurement or do not cooperate with the administration. Since this is a draft law under consultation, these procedures are still proposed.
According to the envisaged changes, the Cadastre will determine the area of agricultural land that can be transferred into ownership free of charge. The institution will carry out the necessary verifications on the ground and will compile a list of actual users for each former cooperative or former agricultural enterprise.
After completing this process, the list will be sent to the municipal council for approval. Thus, the identification of users and verification of surfaces will precede the review of the list by the local body.
Some of the changes relate to cases where the applicant does not appear for the measurement of the area or does not cooperate with the administration employees. In these circumstances, the ASA must make a public announcement within 10 days.
The notice is expected to be published in three places: in the administrative unit where the land is located, in the local Cadastre Directorate, and on the institution’s official website. Through this notice, the citizen will be given the opportunity to appear and fulfill the obligations required for the review to proceed.
The deadline for the citizen to respond is 30 days. If the applicant does not appear or does not perform the necessary actions within this period, the procedure will be suspended for another 60 days.
The suspension does not immediately constitute a rejection of the request. However, if even after the expiration of this deadline the citizen continues to fail to appear or to cooperate, the Cadastre will reject the request for the free transfer of ownership of agricultural land.
The draft law also provides for the possibility of continuing the review if the applicant appears before the closure of the procedure. In this case, the ASA will continue handling the file.
For actual users who have initiated or are seeking to follow this process, compliance with the notices and cooperation during the on-site verification take on direct importance. Continued failure to comply, according to the proposed procedure, may lead to the closure of the review with rejection of the request.
The changes do not affect registered land owners. They relate to actual users of agricultural lands of former cooperatives and former agricultural enterprises, who are requesting the transfer of these areas into ownership free of charge.