In recent years, Ukraine has become an important supplier of organic products to the EU. Total exports in 2021 amounted to USD 222 million. In the same year, our country ranked 5th in the world out of 126 countries in terms of imports of organic products to the EU. More than 80 types of our products were exported to 30 countries. This was stated by Taras Vysotsky, First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, at the opening of the international trade fair for organic products Biofach 2023.
"Despite the full-scale war, in 2022 Ukraine exported 225,814 tonnes of organic products to the EU and Switzerland, which is 13% more than in 2021. This reflects the extraordinary efforts made by the Ukrainian organic sector stakeholders and their international partners, in particular, to promote export support by addressing the urgent needs of Ukrainian organic exporters and constant lobbying at the political level and in the international arena," said Taras Vysotsky.
He added that despite the fact that the organic sector, like the entire agricultural industry, was suffering from the war, Ukraine needed a full-fledged restructuring and integration into the European community.
"Along with the implementation of national legislation, we are working to adapt it to the new EU regulation on organic production, circulation and labeling of organic products," the First Deputy Minister said.
According to him, close cooperation with international partners continues within the organic sector. Thus, the European Commission has abolished import tariffs and quotas on goods from Ukraine and suspended additional control measures applied to organic products from Ukraine since 2015.
At the same time, in connection with the adoption of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1450 on the use of non-organic protein feed in organic livestock farming as a result of russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food addressed the EU countries and the European Commission with assurances of the ability of Ukrainian organic operators to fulfill their export obligations in 2022-2023 for the supply of organic protein feed to the EU countries. In addition, cooperation with European partners to solve logistical problems is ongoing, Taras Vysotsky emphasized.
