Aquaculture operators in Azerbaijan no longer need to change the classification of their land to set up a fish farm, said Yasar Abdullayev, head of the Ministry of Agriculture's Legal Affairs and Executive Discipline Department.
Report informs that Abdullayev was speaking at the first Azerbaijan Regional Aquaculture Forum in Baku.
He said the Land Code was amended at the ministry's initiative. The ministry had previously opposed such use of land, he said, but had since accepted the risks involved.
"There is no longer any need to change the land classification to set up an aquaculture operation. Operators can now establish fish farms on land of any category, including agricultural and industrial land," Abdullayev said.
He said the ministry had also worked with the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy to amend the Tax Code, exempting fish products from aquaculture facilities, including caviar, from taxation.
The latest change, also proposed by the Agriculture Ministry, amended the law on environmental assessment. Abdullayev said the law covered livestock farming, poultry farming, agroparks and aquaculture but previously set no criteria to distinguish among aquaculture projects.
"Previously, every aquaculture project required environmental assessment documentation, regardless of its scale. The amendment now introduces a criterion for determining when that documentation is required," he said.