On 30 July, the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, signed the Law of Ukraine on the basic principles and requirements for organic production, trade and labeling of organic products, which is harmonized with the European Union organic legislation.
The implementation of this law will help to create a conducive and transparent business environment for organic stakeholders, reduce unfair competition in the local market and improve the competitiveness of Ukrainian organic products at the international level as well as their sales potential.
This law establishes the basic principles and requirements for organic production, trade and labeling of organic products, the principles of legal regulation of organic production, the trade of organic products and the way the organic products market funktions, the legal basis for the work of central executive authorities, organic market players and public policy topics in these areas.
The project "Organic Market Development in Ukraine", which is funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has been supporting organic market development in Ukraine since 2005. It has made essential contributions to elaborating this legislation by providing technical expertise to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine and other Ukrainian organic stakeholders that were actively involved in the development of the legislation. Barbara Jäggin, Programme Manager at SECO, emphasizes the importance of adoption and implementation of organic legislation for Ukraine.
"The Ukrainian organic sector is developing rapidly and has huge potential. From 2002 to 2016, the certified organic land increased by 60 %, from 240,000 to 381,000 hectares, and the number of certified farmers is four times higher, having increased from 70 to 294", explains Olga Trofimtseva, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine. "The SECO-funded project has set a landmark for the agricultural sector of Ukraine, far beyond the organic sector and Ukraine’s borders."
The law will go into force on 2 August 2019 - one year after its publication. The next steps will be the elaboration of bylaws and capacity building for involved organisations.
Developing the organic sector in Ukraine and enhancing competitiveness
In 2018, the Swiss-Ukrainian project came to a successful end. During its implementation phase (from 2012 to 2018), the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, in cooperation with the sector stakeholders, contributed to:
- The growth of small and medium organic enterprises in the Ukrainian organic food sector by developing organic food supply chains focusing on national and international markets;
- Increasing the quality and volume of organic arable crops from small and medium-sized farms for export and organic dairy products for the domestic market;
- Improving and increasing the range of commercial services of key domestic organic service providers;
- Increasing awareness about organic food and farming among Ukrainian consumers and policy makers at the national and regional levels;
- Elaborating organic legislation that is harmonized with that of the European Union.
Further information
Contacts
If you would like to get more information about organic in Ukraine, please contact the key organic experts in Ukraine directly:
- Sergiy Galashevskyy, General Manager of the Organic Standard certification body
Phone +380 44-200-62-16, Mobile +380 67-232-65-94, galashevskyy.s(at)organicstandard.ua - Olena Berezovska, President of the Organic Ukraine Public Union of Producers of Certified Organic Products
Mobile +380 67-247-85-64, ob(at)organicukraine.org.ua - Ksenia Guliieva, Director of the consulting body "QueS"
Mobile +380 93-917-29-89, quesservice(at)gmail.com - Kateryna Shor, Project Manager of the Information Center "Green Dossier"
Mobile +380 67-440-59-37, kateryna.shor(at)gmail.com - Eugene Milovanov, Chairman of the Board of the Organic Federation of Ukraine
Mobile +380 50-540-28-80, ofu(at)organic.com.ua
FiBL contacts
- Tobias Eisenring, FiBL Switzerland
- Natalie Prokopchuk, Ukraine, natalie.prokopchuk(at)fibl.org
Links
- ukraine.fibl.org: FiBL project in Ukraine
- gov.ua: The Law of Ukraine on the Parliament website (in Ukrainian)
- president.gov.ua: News article on the signing on the website of the President of Ukraine (in Ukrainian)
More information about organic in Ukraine
ukraine.fibl.org: Factsheet "Organic in Ukraine"
About Swiss Cooperation in Ukraine
In 1997 the Swiss Confederation and Ukraine signed a bilateral agreement for technical cooperation. The Swiss support to Ukraine in 2015-2019 focuses on Sustainable Economic Development, Sustainable Energy Management and Urban Development, Governance and Peacebuilding as well as Health. In addition, the Swiss Confederation provides humanitarian assistance to the regions and targets groups affected by the conflict in the East of Ukraine. For more information please visit http://www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/ukraine