As confirmation of the high quality of their sector management and information system governance in administering EU and national support for agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the Ministry of Agriculture and four of its subordinate institutions have this year obtained ISO 9001 sector management system and ISO 27001 information security management system certificates. This high assessment attests to internationally recognised quality standards, which make it possible to improve cooperation with clients and partners and to build trust, as well as to save institutional resources by eliminating errors and unnecessary work, both within the Ministry of Agriculture itself and at the State Forest Service, the State Plant Protection Service, the Food and Veterinary Service and the State Technical Supervision Agency. The Rural Support Service obtained its ISO 9001 quality management system certificate back in 2011, and its ISO 27001 information security management certificate in 2014.

Ģirts Krūmiņš, State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, makes no secret of his satisfaction: “I am proud of our institutions' ability to systematise their management processes and to identify and eliminate risks in good time. Just as important is the skill and the will to set quality targets for our work and to achieve them. Together we have done a great deal of work, and the certificates we have received are the proof of it, pointing to high-quality management of EU and state support funding. I am also pleased that the Ministry of Agriculture is the only ministry in Latvia to have obtained ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certification.”

The certificates obtained not only confirm that the institutions carry out their work, perform their functions and maintain the management system they have established in line with an internationally recognised quality management standard, but also that they meet the ever-growing requirements of the EU. EU legislation is regularly supplemented with new conditions, and the certificates obtained show that the institutions' management and control systems are ready to operate in a way that ensures the legality and regularity of the expenditure declared to the European Commission.

The certification audit of the standards' requirements at the Ministry of Agriculture and its subordinate institutions was carried out by “Bureau Veritas Latvia”. As a result of the audit, all the institutions obtained LVS EN ISO 9001:2017 and LVS EN ISO/IEC 27001:2024 certificates.