On 25 June 2024, the Sounding Board meeting of the Organic Component of the Swiss-Ukrainian Program “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” (QFTP) was held.
During the Sounding Board meeting the key results of the QFTP Organic Component for the period of 01.07.2023 – 30.06.2024 were presented. In addition, the needs and ideas for planning the activities of the QFTP Organic Component for the period of 01.07.2024 – 30.06.2025 with a focus on improving the regulatory framework, business environment and trade development were collected.
The meeting was held online and was attended by the beneficiaries, recipient, organic sector stakeholders, and QFTP staff.
Among the state authorities, the beneficiaries of the QFTP, were the representatives of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine: Liudmyla Khomichak, Deputy Director of the Department — Head of the Division for Food Security and Excise Products of the Department of State Policy in the Field of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, and Maryna Kyslytska, Head of the State Policy Division on Organic Production of the Food Security and Excise Products Directorate of the Department of State Policy in Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; and the representatives of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection: Ihor Lotskin, Director of the Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Medicine, and Olga Semenchuk, Deputy Director of Department – Head of Directorate for Food and Feed Satefy, Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Medicine.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine expressed its gratitude to Switzerland and QFTP for their significant contribution to the development of the country’s organic sector. Thanks to the program and the involvement of experts, Ukraine’s organic legislation has been improved, political dialogue has been established, and important publications have been developed (e.g., FAQs on rules of production, circulation and labelling of organic products and Guidelines for use of the state logo for organic products). The representatives of the Ministry noted the importance of continuing cooperation at the same active pace, supporting further sustainable activities for the organic sector in Ukraine, and sharing best practices from the EU countries. Shaping organic policy, implementation of the Ukrainian organic legislation and its approximation to the EU legislation remain the main priorities of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, and its representatives expressed their readiness to continue working together to develop the organic sector in Ukraine.
The representatives of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection also expressed their gratitude for the reliable and long-term cooperation with QFTP in establishing state supervision in the field of organic production, circulation and labelling of organic products and their readiness to continue to actively participate in the implementation of joint projects.
The ideas for organic sector export potential development and QFTP’s support in this direction were presented by Oleksii Grushetskyi, Deputy Director for Export Promotion, State Institution “Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office” (EEPO).
The event was moderated by Natalie Prokopchuk, Organic Component Coordinator, and Anastasiia Pivniuk, Senior National Long-term Advisor Organic Component, who coordinated the generation and discussion of ideas for the QFTP Organic Component Activity Plan.
The next steps were outlined by Igor Kravchenko, Local Program Manager.
For reference:
The event program in Ukrainian is available at the link.
