The bill specifies the traceability requirements for pets, including pets kept for commercial and special purposes, making the identification of dogs, cats and ferrets kept in Estonia with an injectable electronic identification device (microchip) and the entry of relevant data about the animal and the keeper in the national register mandatory. Agricultural Registers and Information Agency (PRIA) of agricultural animals for this purpose, a new part of the register, the pet register, which gathers the data of pets and pet owners, will be created for the purpose of the register, and the register of agricultural animals will be renamed the register of animals.
The new domestic pet tagging requirement will result in a uniform approach to tagging dogs, cats and ferrets and recording data on these animals and their owners in a single register. Pet registration is currently open fragmented between different local government databases. A unified register enables faster identification of the owner of a pet that has arrived at the shelter, shortens the time the animals stay in the shelter and thus improves the welfare of the animals. The change will also help reduce illegal pet trade and fraud resulting from insufficient animal traceability.
The administrative burden on keepers and prospective keepers increases if they are not already fulfilled the obligation of chipping and registration when the law entered into force. In this case, the one-time cost of chipping and registration at the veterinarian and the obligation to pay a state fee of 12 euros for the initial registration of the animal or when changing the animal keeper are added. Veterinarians have an additional obligation to submit the animal's data to the register. At the same time, the scope and workload of local governments is decreasing. The burden on shelters can also decrease, as chipped animals return home faster.
In addition, amendments and clarifications are made to the Veterinary Act, the purpose of which is to bring Estonian law into line with European Union law. Among other things, the changes ease and specify requirements that have been interpreted more strictly than necessary during the transposition of EU legislation or that can be fulfilled more flexibly. It will be clarified about the changes that have taken place in the animal keeper's company the deadline for submitting data to the register of agricultural animals, the costly and little-used process of submitting data to PRIA in paper form will be completed and a basis will be created for the application of exceptions to the labeling of animals. The organization of prevention and control of animal diseases is also specified.
The purpose of the changes in the bill is to strengthen animal protection and clarify the regulation. The production and distribution of zoophilia and material depicting it is expressly prohibited. Keeping dogs on a permanent chain will be prohibited from January 1, 2027.
Stricter requirements will be imposed on shelters, they will need a license to operate when the law comes into force, and they must also comply with certain animal husbandry and welfare requirements. The veterinarian is also specified role in performing animal euthanasia.
According to the draft, the law is scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 2027. As an exception, those who have kept their dog on a chain until now and cannot safely release it, can continue to keep it in the same way until 2032.
Also, for a smooth transition, it is stipulated that shelters and those who place stray animals in foster homes must have an activity license by January 1, 2028 at the latest.
The draft brings the Fishing Act (KPS) and other laws into line with the requirements of the EU Council Regulation. The European Union's fisheries control system was updated because the current rules no longer met the requirements of the EU's common fisheries policy and the protection of natural resources. In the future, the submission of fishing data will become electronic and more comprehensive, the origin of fish will be digitally traceable throughout the entire supply chain, and fishing vessels will gradually be equipped with location tracking devices. Fisheries monitoring will also be strengthened and penalties will be toughened to prevent illegal fishing in case of serious violations, taking into account the value of the fish caught in the violation. The aforementioned is necessary primarily to ensure better protection of natural resources and to support fair competition. In order to implement the new EU requirements, it is necessary to update several provisions of the KPS, to amend the Criminal Record Act (KarRS), the Fisheries Market Organization Act (KTKS) and the State Fee Act (RLS).
The provisions of the EU regulation will enter into force gradually from the beginning of 2026 until January 1, 2030. Individual provisions also entered into force from July 2024, but their implementation did not require changes to the KPS.
The time frame for the entry into force of the changes is as follows: In 2026, the following regulations will come into force: updated catch data submission requirements for vessels over 12 m and salmon and cod in recreational fishing; traceability requirements for fish and aquaculture products up to retail; the maximum amount of fish allowed to be sold at sea without formalizing the initial purchase (10 kg instead of 30 kg); EU serious infringement point system for captains and fishermen; sanctions for serious violations of the EU;
Additional fish weighing requirements will come into force in 2027, the details will be established by an implementing regulation of the European Union Commission, which negotiations are ongoing;
In 2028, the following regulations will come into force: tracking the location of fishing vessels at sea for fishing vessels with a total length of 9-12 meters and for fishing vessels with a total length of less than 9 meters using active traps; continuous monitoring of the engine power of high-risk fishing vessels with a power of more than 221 kilowatts;
In 2029, fish traceability requirements will apply to canned fishing and aquaculture products;
It will start in 2030 the obligation to monitor the fishing activity of fishing vessels at sea applies to all fishing vessels with a total length of less than 12 meters, and in recreational fishing, catch data must be collected daily for species that are significantly affected by recreational fishing.
KPS has been amended to implement the aforementioned provisions of the European Union. The amendment of the KarRS is necessary to give the Environmental Agency (KeA) access to the data of the criminal record archive to calculate the repetition of the misdemeanor in connection with serious violations of the European Union. The amendment of the KTSS is necessary to ensure the implementation of the requirements for the traceability of fishery and aquaculture products of the European Union. The RLS is amended to exempt KeA from paying the state fee for criminal record data requests.
The law will be amended to end the operation of the National Alcohol Register as of November 1, 2026. The purpose of the change is to reduce the administrative burden on entrepreneurs and simplify the introduction of alcohol products to the market.
From now on, alcohol producers and importers do not have to register their products and can immediately put them on the market, provided that the products meet the requirements and are safe. Several additional reporting obligations, such as laboratory test protocols, will also disappear and providing wine movement reports.
The change also reduces the state's administrative burden. The Agriculture and Food Board no longer has to maintain the register, and the released resource can be directed to supervision.
In the current Fishing Act (KPS), there is no authorization norm for establishing the number of trips to the water area with fishing gear. As a result, it is necessary to supplement the Fishing Act with the corresponding authorization norm and supplement the provisions of the Fishing Act concerning the data composition of the professional fishing register, the conditions for issuing a permit, the conditions for the premature expiration of the permit, the reduction of the number of trips to the water area with fishing gear, and the implementing provisions that made based on the changes, it would be possible to issue fishing permits as early as 2026.
The change ensures greater legal clarity and transparency of the organization of commercial fishing, and thus a more secure operating environment for entrepreneurs.
The explanatory letter states that the change directly concerns those companies that have the opportunity to catch northern pike and spiny pike on Lake Peipsi, Lake Lämmi and Lake Pihkva. As of March 10, 2026, there is a north seine on Lake Peipsi, Lake Lämmi and Lake Pihkva or ten owners of the fishing opportunity for a spinning top. Indirectly, the changes affect all companies fishing on Lake Peipsi, Lämmi and Pihkva on the basis of a fisherman's fishing permit, who catch the same target species that are caught with bottom seine and seine.
The change entails an additional administrative burden for the Agriculture and Food Board (PTA), which in the future must also take into account the number of trips to the water area of the company and each company and according to the fishing permit, also to keep track of the fulfillment of these departures.
Determining the number of times a fishing vessel enters the water area for each eddy and bottom seine helps to avoid jeopardizing fish stocks by allowing the fisherman to select the appropriate weather conditions, fishing time and water temperature to fish in the most suitable manner and time.
The initiators of the bill consider it necessary to legalize the end of caged chickens and present the bill so that the process does not stop and we unequivocally reach changes that will end the suffering of caged chickens.
The bill makes two substantive changes to the Animal Protection Act. First, the law changes the requirements to ensure the welfare of hens kept for egg production. The bill proposes to ban the production of edible eggs from January 1, 2035 keeping chickens kept for the purpose, including chicks and young chickens (hereinafter referred to as laying hens) in a cage.
In addition, the draft stipulates that starting from January 1, 2027, if the farmer starts keeping laying hens, he may not build or use a cage to keep them. Therefore, the company engaged in the production of edible eggs must build and equip the production system to be put into use from 2027 in such a way that it has it is possible to keep laying hens cage-free.
The purpose of the bill is to reduce the administrative burden on individuals and make the regulations more flexible. The amendments made to the Land Improvement Act by the draft law will abolish the requirement for further training and simplify the registration of old land improvement systems, and the amendments to the State Property Act will simplify the provision and transfer of land used for agricultural purposes as state land. All changes reduce administrative burden of persons.
The draft stipulates that starting from September 1, 2025, the reimposition of the activity license obligation for childcare centers that provide catering services and for businesses that provide catering services to childcare centers will be waived.
According to the explanations, since 2021, child care service providers have not had the obligation to apply for an activity license from the Agriculture and Food Board if they are engaged in catering. However, it will enter into force on September 1 of this year the Act to amend the Act on Early Childhood Education and other related laws, which would re-establish the obligation to apply for a permit for daycare centers.
The Rural Affairs Committee is of the opinion that the process of applying for a separate permit leads to an excessive administrative burden both for the institutions providing childcare services and for the Agriculture and Food Board, which processes permits. This is especially so in a situation where they have the same childcare facilities or businesses that provide them with catering services currently already obliged to inform the PTA about its economic activities, including the provision of food for children.
The bill re-implements the corresponding EU directive and establishes a regulation for horse races, which was mistakenly omitted when the new version of the law was adopted.
According to the bill, the competition conditions for equines and the advance notification requirements for its organization are established. In the competition conditions, no distinction can be made between an equine horse registered in Estonia and coming from here, and an equine horse from another EU member state. The requirement does not apply to breed improvement competitions or traditsioonilistel üritustel.
According to the bill, the organizer of the competition must inform the Agriculture and Food Board of the next year's planned competition in which the prohibition of discrimination is not taken into account by December 15 at the latest and justify to the board the need to distinguish between animals.
The bill brings the law into line with EU legislation and solves problems that have arisen in practice.
As an important innovation, a system of social conditionality will be established for agricultural entrepreneurs and producers, which links area and animal-based subsidies to the fulfillment of working and employment conditions and the fulfillment of the employer's obligations.
Changes are also made in the measures for the common market organization of agricultural products, which concerns school curricula, composition and quality requirements and implementation of marketing standards.
In the case of the school plan, the minister is given the competence to decide on the regulation level the more precise conditions for granting support for the school plan.
The bill also provides for measures to strengthen the protection of geographical indications.
The purpose of the bill is to solve the bottlenecks that have appeared due to the development of the field and to create more flexible solutions for entrepreneurs by introducing exceptions.
According to the bill, an exception will be introduced, according to which the law will not apply to the seed and propagating material of old varieties (heirloom varieties, hobby gardeners' varieties) marketed in small quantities. The bill also re-creates the possibility to include well-known varieties of fruit and berry crops in the requirements of the variety list propagation material of well-known varieties of fruit and berry crops based on the corresponding variety description, and the seed potato supplier is given the opportunity to print the labels of the seed potato packages themselves, which is a faster and more flexible solution for the supplier. In addition, according to the draft, the obligation to inform the Environmental Board of the intention to carry out experiments with cultivation material in order to determine the sufficient economic profitability of the production of forest material from it is established, for forestry or research.
The bill creates a new database for processing data related to agricultural activities, which will be the agricultural data repository. The agricultural data repository is a part of the register of agricultural subsidies and farmlands planned as a pilot project, the controller of which is the Agricultural Registers and Information Agency (PRIA). Agricultural data assets contain data on agricultural activities, which are required to be submitted is accompanied by participation in the common agricultural policy (CAP) measure of the European Union. Also, voluntarily submitted data on agricultural activities are entered into the agricultural data asset. The creation of a legal basis for keeping the agricultural data repository in the law is, among other things, the basis for providing the electronic field book (e-farm book) service in the PRIA e-service environment and for data from it to reach the agricultural data repository. It is necessary for shaping agricultural policy, including planning new support measures, promoting sustainable agriculture, national statistics and research.
In addition to the creation of a new database, the minister responsible for the field is given the right to establish more precise conditions and procedures for the reduction of support by regulation. Since, for the current program period, European Union law is very general in relation to the reduction of support, the need may arise to create uniform bases for the reduction of support over CAP measures. The rural life committee was appointed as the leading committee.
The bill amends the Act on the Restriction of Real Estate Acquisition with the aim of establishing in the Act on the Restriction of Real Estate Acquisition restrictions on the acquisition of agricultural and forest land for a foreigner who, in the sense of the Land Reform Act, is a natural person who is not an Estonian citizen. In addition, third-country nationals and legal entities are removed from the subjects of the transaction, which precludes them from acquiring land. The bill does not prohibit renting land and such to earn income and engage in agriculture, forestry or entrepreneurship, and in this way also promote Estonian life and manage lands and forests.
The bill sets the conditions for a foreigner who wants to acquire agricultural or forest land on the territory of the Estonian state. According to the bill, foreigners can continue to acquire agricultural and forest land, but only under the conditions specified in the law. Restrictions contribute to obtaining a land residence permit only for the purpose of preventing acquisition.