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Introduction
In accordance with the provisions of the EU Nitrate Directive 91/676/EEC (Council Directive No 91/67 6/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources), the member states shall implement following requirements:
 | Adoption of the Directive to the national legislation; |
| Designation of the vulnerable zones; |
| Preparation and implementation of the Code of Good Agricultural Practice; |
| Implementation of the monitoring programmes to assess agricultural pollution; |
| Implementation of the Action Programme to reduce agricultural pollution; |
| Reports on the implementation of the Nitrate Directive every 4 years. |
The Nitrate Directive could be one of the most difficult and costly directives of the EU environmental legislation. Therefore, its implementation may be problematic in Latvia. The transitional period will allow a planned and step-by-step implementation of the Directive. In Latvia the agricultural conditions are still affected by the transition from the Soviet type collective farming system to market economy, which has not been completed yet. The major problems that have to be solved during the transition period are as follows:
| Preparation and adoption of the relevant legislation that includes both the legal norms
and supporting recommendations that are applied together with legislation; |
| Development and improvement of the institutional system for implementation and
control of the Nitrate Directive; |
| Accumulation of financial resources both to subsidize farmers for improvement of the
manure handling and to finance the environmental monitoring and control system; |
| Farmers require time for the implementation of projects (design, financing,
construction) to fulfil the requirements of the Nitrate Directive. |
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