Implementation of the environmental protection policy in agriculture

Muhlinina Mariya Mihailovna PhD in Law Senior Researcher; Department of Environmental, Land and Agrarian Law; Institute of State and Law of Russian Academy of Sciences 10 Znamenka str., Moscow, 119019, Russia muhlyninamm975@mail.ru

Without exaggeration, Russia can be called an agrarian superpower, it occupies a leading position in the global food market. Domestic agricultural products are of high quality, surpass their foreign counterparts and are successfully exported to many countries around the world. Today, despite external challenges, the industry is developing and increasing production volumes. Issues of state support and legal regulation of agriculture and the entire agro-industrial complex are currently becoming particularly relevant, since it is this sector of the economy that is designed to ensure Russia's food sovereignty, and even despite restrictions from some foreign countries, it shows positive dynamics. High quality indicators of agricultural products directly depend on environmental protection in this area. The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, pays great attention to issues of a sectoral nature, for example, such as the involvement of new lands in agricultural turnover, the implementation of measures in the field of land reclamation, breeding and seed production, poultry farming, and animal husbandry, the development of organic agriculture.

The state policy in the field of agriculture and the entire agro–industrial complex (hereinafter referred to as the agro-industrial complex) is aimed at modernizing enterprises, introducing new, including environmentally friendly, technologies, scientific developments, applying modern land use methods, updating the fleet of machinery and equipment. The support of agriculture, industry science, is considered by the state as a matter of technological, scientific and food sovereignty of the country, sustainability and filling the Russian market with affordable and high-quality food products. All this undoubtedly affects the increase of Russia's sovereignty as a whole. The implementation of already developed programs, projects and plans in the field of ecology has a positive effect on the state of the environment and human health, gives impetus to economic development, and makes it possible to increase the competitiveness of domestic production. A scrupulous analysis of the current situation in the field of environmental protection in agriculture, as well as legislative support for the state's environmental policy in the substantive adjustment of the legal framework in all its main areas, is what can lead to the achievement of Russia's food sovereignty.

The United Nations and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have made a great contribution at the international level to improving governance for the sustainable development of food and agriculture and, as a result, accelerating the achievement of the SDGs. The FAO documents note that food systems are now facing serious risks, which, in turn, threaten the future of food systems themselves.: "Despite the global improvement in calorie production and the significant development of food and agricultural markets, huge inequalities in access to food and the redistribution of added value have arisen, which has led to new serious nutritional and social problems."^[1] FAO is called upon to assist Member States in identifying, analyzing and solving management problems in order to ensure sustainable food and agriculture development at the global and national levels. However, despite the assistance from the FAO, each State implements its food policy independently.

Currently, the reform in the field of environmental protection is being implemented mainly by economic measures of state policy aimed at motivating social environmental responsibility and economic stimulation of economic entities to ensure the environmental safety of their activities. To implement the function of environmental protection in agriculture, agricultural producers are forced to invest in the development of environmentally friendly projects, the purchase and implementation of technologies and equipment designed to clean up emissions into the atmosphere, discharges into reservoirs and waste disposal from agricultural activities.

Environmental protection in agriculture can be defined as the activities of state authorities, local governments, legal entities and individuals aimed at preventing the negative impact of agricultural production on the environment, preserving and restoring soil fertility, rational use of land and other natural objects, the production of environmentally friendly agricultural products, the development of organic agriculture and ensuring food security.

Voronin B.A., Donnik I.M., Kruglov V.V. and others note that "the rhythm of production in agriculture is largely regulated by natural biological laws. But active human activity has an increasingly significant impact on the environment every year, and this impact requires legal regulation" ^{[2, p. 10]}. Such legal regulation is the Federal Law of the Russian Federation dated 10.01.2002 No. 7-FZ "On Environmental Protection" (NW RF. 14.01.2002. No. 2. Article 133), chapter VII of which is devoted to the requirements in the field of environmental protection in the implementation of economic and other activities, so according to Article 42 "the implementation of activities in the field of agriculture must comply with the requirements in the field of environmental protection, measures to preserve and restore the natural environment, rational use of natural resources, ensuring environmental safety, preventing negative effects on the environment, as well as rationing in the field of environmental protection should be carried out."

The implementation of the state policy on environmental protection in agriculture is based on the provisions of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation dated December 29, 2006 No. 264-FZ "On the Development of Agriculture" (Federal Law of the Russian Federation. 2007. No. 1 (Part 1). Article 27), in particular, this law says: "in order to implement the state policy aimed at ensuring ecological balance, protecting agricultural lands, increasing their fertility ... agricultural producers receive state support for carrying out measures on the use of fertilizers at the expense of budgets and for the development of organic agriculture" (Article 13). Despite the small amount of regulatory material, the law consists of only eighteen articles, unfortunately, none of the articles is directly devoted to environmental protection in agriculture, it was very advisable to eliminate this legal gap.

Turning to the history of the issue under study, it can be canceled that in our country for many years the harmful effects of agricultural production on the environment have been underestimated, simply "not noticed". Since the 1960s, agriculture has been in the first place in terms of environmental pollution. Since 1980, the UN has included animal husbandry among the four most important threats. Indeed, the largest polluter in agriculture is animal husbandry. The construction of livestock complexes and farms in the absence of sewage treatment plants generates a large amount of waste. For example, only one pig breeding complex per 100 thousand heads or a cattle complex per 35 thousand heads can produce pollution equal to environmental pollution produced by a large industrial center with a population of 400-500 thousand people. About 160 million/m3 of manure and raw manure are produced annually at complexes and poultry farms in Russia ^{[3, p. 130]}. According to Gleb O.V., pig industry waste is especially dangerous for human health: they cannot fertilize the soil, their vapors cannot be inhaled. "Harmful microorganisms, methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, bacteria (streptococci, salmonella), etc. are found near livestock complexes" ^{[4, p. 69]}. Competition to animal husbandry in terms of environmental damage can only be the use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, violation of norms and rules of treatment of which leads to the fact that, together with rain streams and groundwater, they enter lakes, rivers and other water bodies, causing damage not only to the condition of reservoirs, but also to fish resources, plant and to the animal world.

Environmental protection and public health in the field of agricultural production in the theory and practice of environmental protection has developed into one of the most important areas of activity. Key efforts are being implemented by imposing on the subjects of agricultural production, such as farmers, agricultural cooperatives and other rural producers, a number of responsibilities in the field of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources in the implementation of economic activities. The assessment of the state of the lands and the effectiveness of the envisaged measures for the protection of lands is carried out taking into account environmental expertise, sanitary and hygienic and other norms and requirements established by legislation, which is implemented thanks to developed regional and local programs, including a list of mandatory measures taking into account the specifics of economic activity, natural and other conditions. The established standards for the maximum permissible concentrations of harmful substances, microorganisms and other pollutants of soil, air and water, biological substances have been introduced to assess their condition in order to protect human health and the environment.

There are a lot of environmental problems in Russian agriculture:

1. The condition of agricultural lands is assessed as unsatisfactory (the content of humus and the main elements of plant mineral nutrition decreases, soil erosion, soil pollution). There is a lack of the necessary amount of organic fertilizers for soil restoration, which is more than compensated by the use of agrochemicals – herbicides and pesticides. Often, in violation of the rules of their application and technology, agrochemicals infect the soil, surface and groundwater, and also lead to the death of soil-forming agents (worms), as well as other birds and animals, which eventually causes diseases in humans. Storing pesticides and mineral fertilizers in poorly equipped warehouses or in the open air also causes environmental pollution;

2. Agriculture accounts for 1/6 of the volume of polluted wastewater discharge into natural reservoirs of the country, which leads to pollution of water sources, provokes diseases and death of fish, animals (muskrats, beaver, otters, etc.);

3. The use of agricultural machinery leads to the death of clutches of birds, small animals that die under the knives of mowers, combines and tractors. Heavy agricultural machinery greatly compacts the soil and leads to the death of soil-forming agents;

4. Poultry farms, large livestock farms, especially pig breeding complexes remain a source of increased environmental danger in agriculture. On the territory of such complexes, the liquid fraction of manure is filtered into the soil and groundwater, waste penetrates into the atmospheric air and forests;

5. The total cost of water resources for animal husbandry around the world ranges from 20-70% ^{[4, p. 68]} and other problems.

On September 08, 2022, the Government of the Russian Federation approved the Strategy for the Development of Agro-industrial and Fisheries Complexes for the period up to 2030 (hereinafter referred to as the Strategy) (Official Internet Portal of Legal Information http://pravo.gov.ru , September 12, 2022), updated on behalf of the President, taking into account new economic and political realities. "The Head of State set the task to take into account current challenges and create conditions for the expansion of the industry in all major areas," recalled Prime Minister Mishustin M.V. - It is necessary to achieve a stable average annual growth in production in the sector at the level of 3%, which will require financing in the amount of at least 900 billion rubles. annually" ^[5]. Proactively, Russia took measures aimed at supporting the agro-industrial complex and industry science, which allowed it to overcome the turbulence associated with the rapidly changing macroeconomic environment, rebuild commodity distribution chains, and search for internal reserves to reduce import dependence … And even despite the obvious listed successes, the Strategy voiced the need to introduce a new model of economic development. Experts from among practitioners support legislative innovations, noting their relevance: "We consider it timely and correct to update the Agro-industrial complex Development Strategy, taking into account changes in market conditions and current restrictions," notes A. Neduzhko, CEO of Step Agroholding, "The tasks of ensuring food security, import substitution, digital transformation, and the development of new export directions are now becoming even more relevant to ensure the further development of the agro-industrial complex" ^[6]. Legislative consolidation in the Strategy for the introduction of a new model of economic development is a very important step forward towards the new stated priorities. Agriculture in Russia is a key sector of the economy, it ensures stability, security and self-sufficiency of the country. The main sign of the country's food independence, according to researchers, in particular, Belkharoev H.U., is the state of security - both of the individual and of the state as a whole ^{[7, p. 111]}. Napalkova I.G. and Fedorenko N.V. note "Digital technologies have led to significant changes in the field of law-making and law enforcement. ... It should not be forgotten that the main guideline in this area should be constitutional principles and norms that have the highest legal force in the legal system of the Russian state" ^{[8, p. 12]}.

The legal regulation of environmental protection in agriculture should be based on an ecological and economic basis and promote the functioning and further agricultural production and at the same time minimize, and ideally, reduce to "zero" the harmful effects on nature. Responsible, strict compliance with the requirements and norms established for agricultural producers, provided for by environmental legislation, is the only and most correct algorithm for the behavior of these subjects. The legal regime for the use of land, waters, forests, subsoil and other natural resources by agricultural organizations and individuals is also subordinated to this.

It seems obvious that there is a need to improve regulatory legal regulation and strategic planning in the direction under study, in particular, in order to ensure not only the growth rate of the agro-industrial complex, the introduction of new or expansion of existing mechanisms of state support, to increase import substitution rates for critically important types of agricultural products, but also to implement all these tasks taking into account the priority of environmental protection and the preservation of public health. The existing gaps in legal regulation do not contribute to such provision. The implementation of the state policy on environmental protection in the field of agriculture can also develop in the following directions:

- implementation of a program for the development of animal husbandry with the introduction of the best available technologies;

- building a closer dialogue between science and business in the field of agriculture;

- conducting an assessment of the effectiveness and market prospects of existing scientific developments in the agricultural sector, etc.

As a recommendation for improving legislation, in our opinion, it would be advisable to add the word "careful attitude" to the formulation of one of the six goals of the state agrarian policy formulated in paragraphs 3, Part 2, Article 5 of Federal Law No. 264-FZ dated December 29, 2006 "On the Development of Agriculture" (NW of the Russian Federation 2007. No. 1 (Part 1). Article 27): "3) conservation, careful treatment and reproduction of natural resources used for agricultural production," which is more consistent with the constitutional norm than the present wording of the law.