The audit covered the period from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2009. Generally, the NIK opinion on their performance is positive, although certain irregularities were found.
According to the audit, farm products meet high quality requirements. Out of 712 samples checked, the audit questioned only four. Importantly enough, no genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were found in the samples checked.
In the audited period, the number of organic farms and the volume of their crops increased twice, partially due to over PLN 609 million of EU subsidies and PLN 42 million from the state budget. At present Poland is on the seventh place in Europe with regard to the number of organic farms. The audit concluded that systematic development of organic farming makes it feasible to have 20,000 organic farms with organic crops of 600,000 hectares by 2013, as forecast in the Activity Plan for Organic Food and Farming in Poland for 2007-2013 adopted in March 2007.
As for irregularities, the NIK found that there were certain delays in issuing decisions on subsidies for organic crops on the part of local branches of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARiMR). The NIK recommended the President of the ARiMR to improve the execution of payments by its local branches. Moreover, the NIK disclosed certain minor irregularities in 40 percent of the audited farms. These were, however, mainly related to formal issues, such as inaccurate records of products or minor inadequacies in documentation. Additionally, on the NIK initiative, the works have been intensified related to improvements in the system for gathering and transmitting data on organic farming.
