Submission of applications for Transformation of Fish and Aquaculture Products in the Domain of Productive Investments
Application deadline: 30/11/2023
Indicative funding available in this notice: €13,357,500
Application submission mode: Individually or in co-promotion
Maximum number of applications: One per economic operator
Duration of operations: 2 years
The call for proposals is open under the MAR 2030 program, aiming to promote the marketing, quality, added value of fish and aquaculture products, as well as the transformation of these products in mainland Portugal.
The eligible actions for this call include:
- Productive investments as well as investments that promote decarbonization, the use of renewable energies and energy efficiency, circular economy, digitalization, and internationalization;
- Investments that promote entrepreneurship through support for the creation and development of start-ups and spin-offs;
- Investments in certification and promotion of sustainable fish and aquaculture products, including processes that lead to the registration of brands or patents;
- Investments that reduce the impact of the activity on the environment;
- Development of marketing and internationalization strategies, including promotional or prospecting actions and product development that are not part of actions organized by associations and producer organizations;
- Marketing innovation, which involves the implementation of a new marketing method with significant changes in product design or packaging, or in its promotion and distribution;
- Initiatives that promote diversification of consumption through the transformation of fish products related to more abundant species with lower commercial value;
- Promotion of short distribution and marketing circuits.
Projects in innovation in co-promotion can still be supported, as long as they are led by a company, being:
- Projects developed between two or more independent entities that cooperate strategically and effectively in a medium and long-term logic, sharing infrastructure, skills, and resources, including human resources, based on specific contributions to the project’s objectives, aiming at the development of actions that integrate the common activity plan and the achievement of accomplishments and results;
- The company assumes the role of the leading entity, being responsible for ensuring the overall coordination of the project and the communication between the various co-promoters and between them and the management authority, regarding the technical, administrative, and financial management of the project.
Eligible entities
PMEs whose activities fall within the following CAE subclasses can benefit from the support provided in this notice:
- 10201 “Preparation of fish and aquaculture products”;
- 10202 “Freezing of fish and aquaculture products”;
- 10203 “Preservation of fish and aquaculture products in olive oil and other vegetable oils and sauces”;
- 10204 “Salting, drying, and other processing activities of fish and aquaculture products”;
- 10411 “Production of crude animal oils and fats, if related to fish and aquaculture products”;
- 10850 “Manufacture of ready-made meals and pre-cooked dishes, if related to fish and aquaculture products”.
In the case of co-promoted operations led by a SME, the following entities can also be beneficiaries:
- Higher education institutions, their institutes, and R&D units;
- State or international laboratories with headquarters or permanent representation in Portugal;
- Non-profit private institutions whose main purpose is R&D activities;
- Other public and private non-profit institutions that carry out or participate in scientific research activities.
Applications
Applications are submitted online at the Balcão dos Fundos website at balcaofundosue.pt, along with the following documents:
- Strategic analysis of the company that identifies critical areas of competitiveness for the business it operates in, diagnoses the company’s situation in these critical areas, and provides a rationale for the investment options considered in the application.
- Company’s contract, statutes, and updated permanent certificate, or access code for consultation, if it is a legal entity.
- Descriptive and justifying memorandum of the operation to be carried out.
- Document authorizing interventions in the space (property deed demonstrating ownership of the space, or lease agreement or authorization from the competent public entity), if it includes land facilities.
- Veterinary control number, if it includes the modernization of facilities.
- Independent marketing report, if it concerns a new company;
- Budgets and catalogs related to all goods and services included in the proposal, with a minimum of three, in order to assess the reasonableness of the costs presented.
- Business plan that allows assessing the economic and financial viability of the project, and when the investment exceeds 50 thousand euros, a feasibility study.
- Elements demonstrating that the sources of financing are secured, including bank loans if necessary.
- Simplified Economic Information relating to the last completed financial year at the time of submitting the application, demonstrating a balanced economic and financial situation.
- If the application is submitted in co-promotion and includes eligibility of personnel costs in the partner entity: a list of employees of the beneficiary entity, organized by professional category/functional profile.
Timeline:
Deadline for submitting applications: 30-11-2023
Analysis of applications: 04-12-2023 to 29-02-2024
Deadline for communicating the Decision to beneficiaries: 07-03-2024
This document does not replace the detailed reading of the program here, as well as Portaria nº186/2023.