Landwirtschaftsministerium, Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft#

Agriculture, Ministry of, official name: Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management; called Ministry of Farming during the Monarchy, 1918/19 state authority for agriculture, 1919/20 and 1945 state authority for agriculture and forestry, from 1920-1038 onwards and 1945-2000 Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, since 2000 Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management.

The Ministry of Agriculture is divided into 11 sections and has the following spheres of responsibility: matters of agricultural policy and agricultural law, matters of the food industries, forestry policy and forestry law, regulation of the internal market of the EU regarding agricultural, food and forestry products, animal feed and fertilisers, pest control, movement of goods, wine law and wine regulations, matters of soil control and agricultural authorities, water law, plant protection, trade of agricultural goods on the stock exchange, matters of hunting and fishing and the administration of federal land used for agriculture and forestry, including matters of the Austrian federal forests ( Oesterreichische Bundesforste), the federal gardens and parks and the Spanish Riding School.

In 2000 all matters pertaining to the environment and some other branches were transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture from the Ministry for Environmental Affairs; these included general environmental matters, waste management and recycling, protection of species, nature and landscape preservation and preservation of caves, radiation protection, coordination of nuclear issues and the transportation of hazardous goods.

The following authorities are subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture: schools and research institutes of agriculture and forestry ( Schools of Agriculture and Forestry), the Federal Gardens and Parks, Spanish Riding School and the federal inspection authority for wineries (Bundeskellereiinspektion).

The Agrarmarkt Austria (AMA) was founded in 1993 and has been in charge of enforcing the market regulations of the European Union since Austria´s accession (supervision of direct payments to farmers, interventions, CAP subsidies, etc.).

Literature#