[ S.L. 639.14] AGRICULTURAL DATA COLLECTION 1 SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 639.14 AGRICULTURAL DATA COLLECTION REGULATIONS 7th June, 2026 LEGAL NOTICE 87 of 2026. 1.
(1)The title of these regulations is the Agricultural Data Collection Regulations. Citation and scope.
(2)The scope of these regulations is to provide for the collection of data related to agricultural activity and agricultural holdings, and for the relevant research to be conducted thereupon, for the purposes of developing and implementing the National Agricultural Policy and to fulfil the national obligations of the Farm Sustainability Data Network. 2. requires:
(1)In these regulations, unless the context otherwise "Act" means the Agriculture Act; Interpretation. Cap. 639. "agricultural land" means any land on which agricultural activity takes place; "Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009" means Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 of 30 November 2009 setting up the Farm Sustainability Data Network; "Regulation (EU) 2016/679" means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation).
(2)Unless the context otherwise requires, words and phrases used in these regulations which are not defined herein shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in the Act. 3.
(1)For the purposes of developing and implementing the National Agricultural Policy as referred to in article 3
(1)(a) of the Act and for the purposes of fulfilling the obligations of Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009, the Director shall have the power to collect the necessary and relevant data from any natural or legal person involved in agricultural activity or otherwise related to agricultural products.
(2)Without prejudice to the generality of sub-regulation
(1), the Director shall collect any of the following information: (
- a)the area of the land where agricultural activity is Power to collect data. 2 [ S.L. 639.14] AGRICULTURAL DATA COLLECTION taking place; (
- b)the livestock kept within the agricultural holding; (
- c)the title, authorisation or other sort of permission by which the agricultural land is occupied; (
- d)the labour and the workers involved; (
- e)all aspects of the production and processing of agricultural products, including but not limited to the agricultural holding structure, location, accountancy, employment and agricultural and processing practices; and (
- f)such other information and, or data concerning the agricultural industry of Malta as the Director may require, which data are strictly related to the tasks and functions of the Director in accordance with the Act and the regulations made thereunder.
(3)The Director, or any officer authorised by him, shall issue a notice in writing ordering any person to provide the data requested for the purposes of these regulations, within such time and manner as specified in the notice.
(4)Any person who fails to comply with the requirement of sub-regulation
(3)shall be guilty of an offence in accordance with the provisions of the Act. Liaison agency. 4.
(1)The Agriculture Directorate shall serve as the liaison agency for Malta for all the purposes of Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009.
(2)The Directorate shall be responsible for fulfilling the requirements and obligations of the Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/ 2009. Data protection. Cap. 586. 5.
(1)These regulations shall not prejudice the applicability of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act, including the regulations made thereunder and the fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subjects.
(2)The Rural Affairs Department acting in its capacity of a controller in accordance with Article 4
(7)of the Regulation (EU) 2016/679, shall perform the relevant data processing operations which are limited to the extent needed for the purposes of these regulations, and to what is necessary and proportionate to the objectives pursued by the Department.
(3)The processing of personal data for the purposes of these regulations shall fully comply with the principles relating to the processing of personal data in accordance with Article 5 of Regulation AGRICULTURAL DATA COLLECTION [ S.L. 639.14] (EU) 2016/679.
(4)Any personal data collected by the controller in accordance with these regulations shall only be processed for the purposes of policy development and research. 6.
(1)The controller, whilst taking into account the nature, scope, context and purposes of processing as well as the risks of varying likelihood and severity of the rights and freedoms of the data subjects, shall implement appropriate technical and organisational measures, in an effective manner and integrate the necessary safeguards into the processing, in order to protect the rights of the data subjects and to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk.
(2)The data protection officer designated by the controller in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 shall be involved and duly consulted in a timely manner on all issues in relation to the protection of personal data processed for the purposes of these regulations.
(3)For the purpose of ensuring and of being able to demonstrate that the processing of personal data is performed in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the controller shall implement the appropriate data protection policies, which policies shall be periodically reviewed and updated where necessary. Appropriate safeguards. 3