The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announces that it has posted on its website, in the "Decisional Transparency" section, a draft Government Decision for the approval of the Program for schools in the period 2023-2029 and for establishing the budget for its implementation in the 2023 school year -2024.

This project seeks to establish the measures provided for by the new European regulations, so that Romania's participation in the European Union's Program for Schools, for the financial year from August 1, 2023 - July 31, 2029, will continue, ensuring the distribution of fruit and/or fresh vegetables, natural drinking milk and/or dairy products without added milk powder, as well as bakery products for preschoolers and students, including for the 2023-2024 school year. The bakery products component is supported only from the national budget.

The total value of the program for the 2023-2024 school year is 742,617,252 lei (150,038,842 euros), of which:

- financial aid from the European Union - 86,525,308 lei (17,481,626 euros), of which:

6,178,236 euros for fruits and vegetables;

11,303,390 euros for milk and dairy products;

- national financial aid – 656,091,944 lei (132,557,216 euros).

The total budget of 742,617,252 lei is used as follows:

– 94,782,996 lei for the provision of free fruits and vegetables and 37,612,300 lei for the development of related educational measures; – 361,134,499 lei for the free provision of drinking milk and dairy products without added milk powder and 37,612,300 lei for the development of related educational measures; – 211,475,157 lei for the free provision of bakery products, exclusively from the state budget.

According to the data of the Ministry of Education, a number of 1,880,615 preschoolers and students will benefit from the products distributed through the Program, starting with the 2023-2024 school year.

The main regulations of the draft normative act aim at:

Cumulative achievement of the following measures:

- free provision of fresh fruit and vegetables for preschoolers with a normal program of 4 hours state-authorized/accredited and private accredited ones, for students from primary, state and private secondary schools, as well as for preschoolers and students included in inclusive education , milk and dairy products, bakery products within a daily value/preschool/student. The daily value limit includes the full purchase price of the products, including the value added tax, their transport, distribution and storage expenses, as the case may be;

- financing of educational measures that accompany the distribution of fruits, vegetables, milk and dairy products

Daily value limit/preschool/pupil, amounting to:

a) 0.70 lei for the portion of fruits and vegetables; b) 1.11 lei for the portion of drinking milk and dairy products without added milk powder; c) 0.65 lei for the portion of bakery products.

Giving a preschooler/student, during the week, 2 portions of fruit and/or vegetables, 3 portions of milk, 2 portions of dairy products and 5 portions of bakery products, within the amounts allocated for these purposes.

The new element for the 2023-2024 school year is the fact that during the week 3 portions of milk and 2 portions of dairy products are given for free, compared to previous school years when 2 portions of milk and a portion of a dairy product were distributed.

Distribution of quantities of apples, pears, table grapes, plums, carrots, parsnips, celery root, beetroot, bell peppers and cucumbers, in portions of at least 150 grams for fruit and at least 200 grams of vegetables, including vegetables under mixture form.

The content of the portion of milk and dairy products, which includes:

- drinking milk without added milk powder: pasteurized or UHT milk, without added sugar or other sweeteners, without added cocoa; - fermented dairy products without added milk powder: yogurt, sour milk, curdled milk, kefir, whole milk and other fermented or sour milk varieties, without added sugar or other sweeteners, without added fruit, without added cocoa; - the portion of milk distributed is 200 ml, and the portion of dairy products distributed is 125 grams, both with a content of at least 3.2% protein and at least 1.8% fat. The portion of dairy products contains at least 90% heat-treated milk by weight.

The portion of bakery products is 80 grams, regardless of the type of product distributed.

Also, students with intolerance to gluten/lactose and/or to any other ingredient and/or compound and/or to any product distributed will be able to benefit from products appropriate to their situation.

The educational measures that can be carried out during the school year and that accompany the distribution of fruits, vegetables, milk and dairy products, such as: visiting fruit/vegetable farms, milk production farms, resorts of research, exhibitions, fairs, thematic competitions, tasting, gardening activities at the school level, the organization of thematic days dedicated to the consumption of fruits, vegetables, milk and dairy products, the use of didactic/educational materials.

At the same time, to ensure the diversity of the distribution of the products offered within the Program, the draft normative act establishes the distribution in one school year by the contracting authorities of at least two fruits/vegetables and at least two dairy products from those established in annex no. 1 to this decision.

Also to ensure diversity, the portion of fruit and/or vegetables will be accompanied by a portion of biscuits and/or dry pretzels, and the portion of milk and dairy products will be accompanied by a croissant and/or a bar.

The draft normative act can be consulted here: https://bit.ly/proiect-program-scoli-2023-2024