Law no. 17 regarding some measures to regulate the sale of agricultural land located outside the village and to amend Law no. 268/2001 regarding the privatization of companies that manage public and private state-owned lands for agricultural purposes and the establishment of the State Domains Agency.

The purposes of this Law are: (a) ensuring food security, protecting national interests and exploiting natural resources, in accordance with the national interest; (b) establishing some measures regarding the regulation of the sale-purchase of agricultural land located outside the village; and (c) merging agricultural lands in order to increase the size of agricultural farms and establish economically viable holdings. The agricultural lands located within the urban area and the lands that form a single building, identified by a single cadastral number, partially composed of a majority area located within the urban area, with the category of use yards-buildings, and partially outside the urban area, with the destination agricultural land, does not fall under the scope of this Law. The provisions of this law apply to Romanian citizens, respectively citizens of a member state of the European Union, of the states that are party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) or of the Swiss Confederation, as well as stateless persons residing in Romania, in a member state of the European Union, in a state that is a party to ASEE or in the Swiss Confederation, as well as to legal persons having Romanian nationality, respectively of a member state of the European Union, of the states that are party to ASEE or the Swiss Confederation. The citizen of a third country and the stateless person domiciled in a third country, as well as the legal entities having the nationality of a third country can acquire the right of ownership over agricultural land located outside the city under the conditions regulated by international treaties, on the basis of reciprocity, in the conditions of this Law. The right of pre-emption, at a price and under conditions equal to those provided for in the offer, shall be in the following order: (a) first-class preemptors: co-owners, spouses, relatives up to the third degree and relatives up to the third degree, in this order; (b) rank II preemptors: owners of agricultural investments for tree crops, vines, hops, exclusively private irrigation, located on the lands that are the subject of sales offers and/or lessees; if there are agricultural investments for tree, vine, hop and irrigation crops on the lands subject to sale, the owners of these investments have priority when buying these lands; (c) rank III preemptors: the owners and/or lessees of the agricultural land adjacent to the land subject to sale; (d) rank IV preemptors: young farmers; (e) rank V preemptors: Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences Gheorghe Ionescu-Sișești and the research and development units in the fields of agriculture, forestry and food industry; (f) rank VI preemptors: natural persons with domicile/residence located in the administrative-territorial units where the land is located or in the neighboring administrative-territorial units; and (g) rank VII preemptors: the Romanian state, through the State Domains Agency. The lessee who wants to buy the leased agricultural land located outside the village must hold this status on the basis of a valid lease contract concluded and registered according to the legal provisions at least one year before the date of the display of the sale offer. If the holders of the right of pre-emption do not express their intention to buy the land, the alienation by sale of agricultural land located outside the village can be made to natural persons in compliance with the following cumulative conditions: (a) have their domicile/residence located on the national territory for a period of at least 5 years prior to the registration of the sale offer; (b) to carry out agricultural activities on the national territory for a period of at least 5 years, prior to the registration of this offer; and (c) to be registered by the Romanian tax authorities at least 5 years before the registration of the offer for sale of agricultural land located outside the city.