This is provided for in the government-approved Regulations on the Procedures and Criteria for the Accreditation of the Agency for Agricultural Interventions and Payments (AIPA), Financial Management, Oversight, and Transparency. The document establishes the framework for granting, reviewing, and revoking the Payment Agency’s accreditation, the accreditation criteria, the rules for financial management of the National Fund for Agricultural and Rural Development, control mechanisms, and measures to ensure transparency. The new provisions strengthen AIPA’s internal control system by clearly separating the functions of authorization, payments, and accounting; establishing modern risk management and fraud prevention mechanisms; and developing performance reporting and information security systems in accordance with European standards. At the same time, the regulation defines the role of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry as the managing authority responsible for the accreditation and ongoing monitoring of the Paying Agency, as well as the role of a certification body that will assess compliance with accreditation criteria and the functioning of control systems in accordance with international auditing standards. Accreditation is a necessary step toward strengthening the institutional capacity to manage the National Fund for Agricultural and Rural Development and to prepare for the management of European funding, including funds allocated during the pre-accession phase. // 29.07.2026 — InfoMarket.