Regional Government changes support rules for local action groups in agriculture

The Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Fisheries has published in the Official Journal Order No. 604/2026, which makes the first amendment to Order No. 276/2026, of 25 June. The latter establishes the implementation regime for Intervention F.3.1., which supports the carrying out of operations under the Local Development Strategies (LDS) of the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan for Portugal (CAP Strategic Plan Portugal) in the Autonomous Region of Madeira.

Reason for the amendment#

After the initial order was published, inaccuracies were identified in some of its provisions, namely a writing error in the numbering of subparagraphs. The correction aims to ensure the terms defined in the protocol of functional coordination between the CAP Strategic Plan Managing Authority R.A. Madeira and the Local Action Groups (LAG).

Main changes#

• Selection criteria: it is now expressly provided that the LAGs are responsible for establishing the selection criteria for applications, which must be transparent and non-discriminatory and be included in the respective calls.
• Application calls: the calls that set the application submission periods are subject to prior opinion of the CAP Strategic Plan Managing Authority R.A. Madeira.
• Deadline for payment requests: the entities that analyse payment requests, namely IFAP, I. P., or the entities to which it delegates powers, have a maximum period of 45 working days, counted from the date of submission of the requests, to analyse and issue an opinion. The stated objective is to safeguard the execution of the operations.

Entry into force#

The order enters into force on the day after its publication and takes effect on 26 June 2026, the date on which Order No. 276/2026 takes effect, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 141 of the Administrative Procedure Code.

The order was signed by the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Fisheries, Nuno Dinarte de Gouveia Maciel, in Funchal, on 27 October 2026.