Agricultural Investment in Romania: Land, Subsidies and Food Law

Legal position as at: 24 October 2026

Foreign investors looking at Romanian agriculture usually ask three questions: can we buy the land, what public support is available, and what does it take to process and sell food. The answers depend less on market conditions than on a handful of statutes that are strict in form and unforgiving when they are ignored. This guide sets out the legal framework as it stands today and the practical steps that follow from it.

1. The core statute: Law 17/2014 on the sale of agricultural land

Sales of agricultural land located outside built-up areas (extravilan) are governed by Law 17/2014, as amended, most significantly, by Law 175/2020, Government Emergency Ordinance (OUG) 104/2022 and Law 116/2024. Agricultural land inside built-up areas (intravilan) is outside its scope (art. 2(1)).

Who may buy

Article 2(2) applies the law to Romanian citizens, citizens of EU and EEA states and of Switzerland, and to legal persons of those nationalities. Citizens and legal persons of third countries may acquire extravilan agricultural land only under the conditions laid down in international treaties, on a reciprocity basis (art. 2(3)).

In practice, non-EU investors usually hold land through a Romanian company. That company is a Romanian legal person, but it still has to pass the buyer tests described below, and those tests are demanding for a newly formed vehicle.

Pre-emption: seven ranks of priority buyers

Before land can be sold to anyone else, it must be offered, at the same price and on the same terms, to the pre-emptors listed in art. 4(1), in this order:

A lessee can rely on its rank only if its lease was validly concluded and registered at least one year before the offer is displayed, and only if it meets residence conditions of five years on Romanian territory; where the lessee is a company controlled by another legal person, the controlling shareholders must meet the same five-year test (art. 4(2)).

Buyer conditions where no pre-emptor accepts

If no pre-emptor takes up the offer, art. 4^1 still restricts the circle of buyers. A natural person must, cumulatively, have had a domicile or residence in Romania for at least five years, have carried out agricultural activities in Romania for at least five years, and have been registered with the Romanian tax authorities for at least five years before the offer was registered.

A legal person must, cumulatively:

• have had its registered office or a secondary office in Romania for at least five years;
• have carried out agricultural activities in Romania for at least five years;
• show that at least 75% of its total income over the last five fiscal years came from agricultural activities;
• have a controlling natural-person shareholder domiciled in Romania for at least five years, or, where control sits with other legal persons, show the same five-year Romanian presence for them.

Only if none of the potential buyers who apply within the statutory window meets these conditions may the land be sold to any natural or legal person (art. 4^1(5)). For a foreign group entering the market for the first time, this means that a direct purchase of farmland is often not available in the first years, and the deal has to be structured differently.

The procedure, step by step

• The seller files a request with the town hall to display the sale offer, together with the supporting documents (art. 6(1)).
• Within five working days the town hall displays the offer for 45 working days at its premises and, where applicable, on its website (art. 6(2)), and notifies the pre-emptors (art. 6(6)).
• Potential buyers who are not pre-emptors may file their documents within 30 days after the 45 working days expire (art. 4^1(3)).
• A final approval (aviz) is required before the notary can authenticate the sale. It is issued by the territorial structures of the Ministry of Agriculture for plots of up to 30 ha and by the central structure for plots above 30 ha (art. 9(1) and (2)). The approval is valid for six months, extended where the parties sign a bilateral promise of sale or an option agreement within that period (art. 9(3) and (4)).
• Land within 30 km of the state border or the Black Sea coast, or within 2,400 m of special sites, may be sold only with a specific opinion of the Ministry of National Defence; land with archaeological sites needs an opinion of the Ministry of Culture (art. 3(1) and (4)).

A sale that ignores pre-emption, the buyer conditions or the required approvals is prohibited and sanctioned with absolute nullity (art. 16(1)). There is no cure after signing; the procedure has to be right from the start.

The 80% tax on early resale and on share deals

Article 4^2 imposes an 80% tax on the positive difference between the sale value and the acquisition value where agricultural land is resold within eight years of purchase. The same tax applies where a controlling stake (more than 50%) in a company is sold within eight years of the company acquiring the land, if the land represents more than 25% of the company's real estate assets. The values are based on the notaries' reference values. The tax is in addition to ordinary income or profit tax, is not deductible for profit tax purposes, and income of non-residents from these transactions falls outside the double tax treaties (art. 4^2(6), (11) and (13)). Failure to pay it makes the sale relatively void (art. 16(2)).

Owners must use the land exclusively for agricultural activities from the date of purchase (art. 4^2(14)).

2. Alternatives to buying: leases and acquisitions of farming companies

Agricultural lease (arendare). The Civil Code allows the lease of agricultural land, farm buildings, machinery and livestock (art. 1836). The contract must be in writing, under sanction of absolute nullity, and the lessee must file a copy with the local council for registration in a special register (art. 1838(1) and (2)). Registration matters doubly: it protects the lease and, after one year, it gives the lessee second-rank pre-emption.Acquiring a farming company. Buying shares in a company that already owns land is not a sale of land, so the town hall procedure does not apply. The seller, however, may owe the 80% tax described above, and the price negotiations should reflect it. Due diligence should cover the land titles and cadastral data, the registered leases, the history of APIA payments, and any commitments attached to past EU-funded investments.

3. Foreign investment screening now reaches agricultural land

Romania's foreign direct investment screening regime (OUG 46/2022, approved by Law 164/2023) was substantially amended by OUG 17/2026. Authorisation is required for investments in the security fields of CSAT Decision 73/2012 that exceed 5,000,000 euro (art. 3(1)), and the commission may also examine smaller investments that could affect security or public order (art. 3(2)). Interdependent operations between the same parties within one year are aggregated (art. 3(2^2)).

OUG 17/2026 also introduced a list of "sensitive domains" (art. 2^1). It expressly includes the agri-food sector: domestic production and processing facilities, agricultural land, irrigation infrastructure, grain port terminals, silos and warehouses, gene banks and fertiliser production technologies. The acquisition of assets in these domains can itself be a screened investment. Unusually, the Romanian regime also covers investments by EU investors. An examination fee of 5,000 euro is payable when the request is filed (Competition Law 21/1996, art. 31^2(1)).

For any sizeable acquisition, whether of land, a processing plant or a storage facility, the screening analysis should be done before the signing timetable is fixed.

4. Public support: the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027

EU agricultural support is delivered through Romania's CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027, adopted under Regulation (EU) 2021/2115. Two national agencies administer it:

• APIA (the Payments and Intervention Agency for Agriculture) handles area- and animal-based direct payments and several sectoral interventions;
• AFIR (the Agency for Rural Investment Financing) handles investment support for farms, processing, young farmers and rural businesses.

Payment rates per hectare, eligibility rules and calls for projects are set and published for each campaign, so any business plan should rely on the figures of the current campaign rather than on general averages. Investment support is subject to conditions that run for years after the payment (maintenance of the investment, use of assets, reporting). These obligations follow the asset in a later sale and should be checked in any acquisition.

5. Food processing: ANSVSA and EU food law

The National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) is the competent authority for food safety. The rules are largely EU regulations that apply directly:

• Regulation (EC) 178/2002 sets the general principles of food law, including traceability and the primary responsibility of food business operators;
• Regulation (EC) 852/2004 requires procedures based on HACCP principles (art. 5) and the registration of every food business establishment, or approval where EU or national law requires it (art. 6);
• Regulation (EC) 853/2004 requires the approval of establishments handling products of animal origin, such as meat, milk and eggs;
• Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 governs food information and labelling; products placed on the Romanian market must carry the mandatory particulars in Romanian;
• Regulation (EU) 2018/848 governs organic production, conversion and certification by approved control bodies.

Registration or approval must be in place before operations start. In an acquisition, check that the establishment's registration or approval covers the activities actually carried out, and whether it can continue after the change of operator.

6. Tax points specific to agriculture

• The reduced VAT rate of 11% applies, among others, to food intended for human and animal consumption (with listed exceptions such as alcoholic drinks and certain sugary products), to fertilisers, pesticides and seeds of the type normally used in agriculture, and to certain agricultural services (Fiscal Code, art. 291(2)). The standard rate is 21% (art. 291(1)).
• In 2026, buildings used as greenhouses, polytunnels, mushroom farms, fodder silos and grain storage facilities are exempt from building tax; from 2027 the tax on them is reduced by 50% (Fiscal Code, art. 456(3)).

7. A practical sequence for investors

When to get legal advice

Farmland transactions in Romania fail most often on procedure: a missed pre-emptor, an unregistered lease, a buyer who does not meet the five-year conditions, or a share deal priced without the 80% tax. Each of these can make the transaction void or much more expensive. Our practice advises on the structure, the land procedure, screening filings and the documentation for agricultural and food investments.

This article is general information on the legal position at the date shown and is not legal advice for a specific case. For advice on your project, please write to us at