Grants to Support Advancing of Rural Development and Food Safety in Georgia

Deadline: 17-May-22

The European Commission (EC) has announced a call for proposals to enhance rural development including agriculture and better food safety for improved protection of consumers in Georgia (with the exception of the breakaway region of Abkhazia).

The specific objective is to contribute to increased rural opportunities for citizens of Georgia via promoting sustainable and inclusive growth, creating employment and livelihoods in the rural areas as well as better food safety and improved protection of consumers in Georgia and increased share of exports of agriculture based products under the DCFTA.

Priorities

The priority(ies) of this call for proposals is/are divided per lots, as below:

Lot 1: Food safety and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures component:
- Enhanced consumer protection and increased food safety through increased quality and coverage of inspections and controls and effective enforcement of approximated legislation.
- Increased and timely awareness of SPS/food safety principles and regulatory requirements amongst food business operators, primary producers and civil society and increased general awareness of food safety of consumers at large.
- Increased compliance by producers and food business operators with the new SPS/food safety regulations entering into force.).
Lot 2: Rural development in Guria: In the focal region jointly identified by the EU and the Government of Georgia –Guria:
- to improve the economic and social integration of vulnerable households, including eco-migrants, conflict affected people (IDPs and their host communities), ethnic minorities, Georgian returnees and newly arrived migrants, using the EU’s LEADER6 /CLLD7 approach and promoting Local Action Groups (LAGs);
- to enhance civic participation through increased civil society involvement in local decision-making processes by actively encouraging participation of youth and women.
Lot 3: Rural development in Racha-Lechkhumi & Kvemo Svaneti: In the focal region jointly identified by the EU and the Government of Georgia – Racha-Lechkhumi & Kvemo Svaneti:
- to improve the economic and social integration of vulnerable households, including eco-migrants, conflict affected people (IDPs and their host communities), ethnic minorities, Georgian returnees and newly arrived migrants, using the EU’s LEADER/CLLD approach and promoting LAGs;
- to enhance civic participation through increased civil society involvement in local decision-making processes by actively encouraging participation of youth and women.
Lot 4: Rural development in Kakheti and Imereti: In the two focal regions jointly identified by the EU and the Government of Georgia – Kakheti and Imereti:
- to improve the economic and social integration of vulnerable households, including eco-migrants, conflict affected people (IDPs and their host communities), ethnic minorities, Georgian returnees and newly arrived migrants, using the EU’s LEADER/CLLD approach and promoting LAGs;
- to enhance civic participation through increased civil society involvement in local decision-making processes by actively encouraging participation of youth and women.

Funding Information

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 9 000 000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
Indicative allocation of funds by lot:
- Lot 1: EUR 2 000 000
- Lot 2: EUR 2 000 000
- Lot 3: EUR 2 000 000
- Lot 4: EUR 3 000 000
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
- Lot 1
  - Minimum amount: EUR 1 750 000
  - Maximum amount: EUR 2 000 000
- Lot 2
  - Minimum amount: EUR 1 900 000
  - Maximum amount: EUR 2 000 000
- Lot 3
  - Minimum amount: EUR 1 900 000
  - Maximum amount: EUR 2 000 000
- Lot 4
  - Minimum amount: EUR 2,900,000
  - Maximum amount: EUR 3,000,000

Eligibility Criteria

Lead applicant(s)
- In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  - be a legal person and
  - be non-profit-making and
  - be a specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation, public sector operator, international (inter-governmental) organisation as defined by Article 156 of the EU Financial Regulation and
  - be established in a Member State of the European Union or Georgia,
  - be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.
Co-applicant(s)
- For all lots:
  - It is obligatory that at least two co-applicants are involved in the action.
  - If the lead applicant is not established in Georgia or the lead applicant is established in Tbilisi, the involvement in the action of at least one co-applicant established and functioning in other regions of Georgia than Tbilisi is obligatory.
- For all lots
  - Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
  - Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
  - Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.
Affiliated Entities
- The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).
- Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to coapplicant(s):
  - Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
  - This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
    - Control, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
      - Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
        
        Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
        
        Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
        
        Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
    - Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association,) as the proposed affiliated entities.

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