Apply for a partner number from the Organisme Payeur de Wallonie

Summary

Are you starting out in farming? Are you taking over a farm in Wallonia?

Do you want to apply for regional or European aid for your farming activity?

Farmers in Wallonia must apply for a partner number at the external department of the Organisme Payeur de Wallonie (OPW) of the SPW Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment (SPW ARNE). This is one of the essential steps in the process of setting up in Wallonia

WHAT IS THE PARTNER NUMBER?

The partner number, also known as the P number, is the unique identification number assigned to you by the OPW. 

The OPW is responsible for the management and organisation of the integrated management and control system, called the SIGeC.

This partner number is your identification number within the SIGeC.

You become a partner once your identification is completed.

Partners can be:

  • a private individual
  • an association
  • a company without legal personality or
  • a legal entity

 

WHAT CAN YOU DO AS A PARTNER?

This identification number allows you, in particular:

  • to make your unique annual area declaration and
  • to access regional aid and European aid from the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

It is also your way of accessing the Guichet de l'Agriculture in Wallonia and CAP on Web.

To apply for your partner number, please contact the External Department of the OPW of the SPW ARNE where you live!

The granting of this P number is not automatic:

  • you can apply for it once your farming activity has started
  • you must meet certain conditions that will be verified and monitored by the external department of the OPW directorate

Key points

The P NUMBER: 

  • is granted:
    • to recipients of agricultural aid and/or people with herds with environmental permits
    • under certain conditions: eligibility for agricultural aid, proven professional activity, independent management, etc. 
  • does not constitute official recognition of any kind of farming status
  • does not grant any automatic rights in terms of urban planning, particularly with regard to the occupation of the agricultural zone 
  • implies respecting certain commitments 

See the Terms and Conditions section to find out what you are agreeing to and what conditions you must meet.

SPECIFIC POINTS FOR TAKEOVERS 

If you are taking over entities registered by another farmer and which therefore have another P number, such as: 

  • a farm in its entirety, or
  • a production unit, or
  • livestock farming, or
  • plots 

You must take care of the transfers: 

Contact OPW's external departments for more information. 

You will also find a lot of additional information on the Wallonia agriculture portal, particularly on the context in which Walloon agriculture is evolving, the aspects of co-ownership, etc.

In detail

Target audience – details

Any farmer, so any natural or legal person or group of natural or legal persons who performs an agricultural activity in Wallonia

 

Conditions

The CONDITIONS TO BE MET to obtain your partner number are:

  1. Not have another partner number for the same entity, natural person(s) or legal entity
  2. Be an independent manager of the production units that make up your farm:
    • you manage your farm under your own responsibility and on your own account
    • the productions from your farm are individualised, identifiable and distinct from the productions of other farms
    • you manage your means of production exclusively to any other farmer
  3. Respect the standards for the identification of breeding animals:
    • declare all the herds present in your production units
    • be and remain in order in terms of animal identification
    • request the attestation of compliance of the storage facilities for livestock manure
      • when creating and modifying (adding or removing a herd)
      • when taking over a production unit
      • if the livestock population has significantly increased (+15%) over the year
  4. Devote your means of production exclusively to agricultural activities

 

WHAT ARE YOU COMMITTING TO?

You are committing to:

  • respect the conditions that allowed you to receive a P number
  • notify the OPW of any errors or changes in your identification data, the personal data of the holders, or data relating to your production units
  • report the cessation of your activity
  • make a unique annual declaration, including all your plots (declaration of area)
  • accept the testing:
    • provided for under cross-compliance
    • provided for under the various aid schemes
    • on site under the various aid schemes concerned and linked to being active as a farmer in accordance with Article 9, § 2, paragraph 3, of Regulation No. 1307/2013
Benefits

The P number allows you to access aid applications online via the Guichet de l'Agriculture de Wallonie or via CAP on Web.

For more information on regional and European aid, consult the page of the Agriculture Portal dedicated to aid.

 

Procedure

APPLICATION FOR A P NUMBER

1-Submission of the application to the OPW

Send your application to the External Department of the OPW of the SPW ARNE where you live!

The OPW will ask you to provide various data, such as:

  • your identification data:
    • company number if you have one
    • name
    • legal form
    • legal status
    • language
  • your personal data:
    • postal address
    • contact data: phone, mobile, fax, email
    • IBAN and BIC numbers of your bank account, as well as your bank identification statement (RIB document)
  • information about your production:
    • NACE-BEL codes
    • production units (including herds)

2-Processing of your application by the OPW

As each request is specific, the OPW's external department does its utmost to process them within a reasonable time frame. It checks that your application is complete and consistent, that it complies with the retroactivity rules, and that it takes care of the findings and risks.

There are then two options:

  1. Your application needs to be completed and the OPW will get back to you for additional information so that your application can be processed again and possibly modified.
  2. Your application is rejected because it is inconsistent, incomplete or inadmissible. In this event, you may appeal to the Director of the OPW

3-Validation of your application by the OPW

The OPW will validate your application when it is consistent, complete and relevant.

 

APPEAL AGAINST THE DECISION TAKEN BY THE OPW

You may lodge an appeal with the Director of the Organisme payeur de Wallonie within 45 calendar days of either:

  • the day after the filing of this decision
  • the day after the filing of a notice from the postal services indicating this dispatch

There are several ways to send your appeal to the OPW:

  • by dated and signed email sent to info.opw@spw.wallonie.be
  • by registered mail to Mr Olivier Dekyvere, Chaussée de Louvain, 14, 5000 Namur
  •  by courier sent by private companies with acknowledgement of receipt to Mr  Olivier DEKYVERE, Chaussée de Louvain, 14, 5000 Namur
  • by lodging a notice with acknowledgement of receipt to Mr Olivier Dekyvere, Chaussée de Louvain, 14, 5000 Namur

The OPW will acknowledge receipt of your appeal. Your appeal is encoded in a system that ensures its traceability, as well as its optimal follow-up between the agents in charge of analysing your appeal and the hierarchy, which must validate the response to your appeal on two occasions.

If you disagree with the OPW's response to your appeal, you may file an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court of Belgium.

Legal references

Contacts

Services

Contact the external department of Ath
Chemin du Vieux Ath, 2c
7800 - Ath
Contact the external department of Ciney
Rue Edouard Dinot, 30
5590- Ciney
Contact the external department of Huy
Chaussée de Liège, 39, 1er étage
4500 - Huy
Contact the external department of Libramont
Rue des Genêts, 2, 1er étage
6800 - Libramont
Contact the external department of Malmédy
Avenue des Alliés, 13
4960 - Malmédy
Contact the external department of Thuin
Rue du Moustier, 13
6530 - Thuin
Contact the external department of Wavre
Avenue Pasteur, 4
1300- Wavre
See the contact information for filing an appeal with the OPW:
Chaussée de Louvain, 14
5000 - Namur

You must send your appeal either:

  • by dated and signed email sent to info.opw@spw.wallonie.be
  • by registered mail to Mr Olivier Dekyvere, Chaussée de Louvain, 14 in 5000 Namur
  •  by courier sent by private companies with acknowledgement of receipt to Mr  Olivier DEKYVERE, Chaussée de Louvain, 14, 5000 Namur
  • by lodging a notice with acknowledgement of receipt to Mr Olivier Dekyvere, Chaussée de Louvain, 14, 5000 Namur
Updated on
Process n° : 145185
Did you find this page useful?
Back to processes