On 11 September 2025, a meeting of the Steering Commitee of the Swiss-Ukrainian Programme “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector of Ukraine” (QFTP) took place in Kyiv. The overall objective of QFTP is to promote sustainable trade, increase and improve employment by strengthening the competitiveness and developing the capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the organic and dairy sectors.
During the meeting, the report for the second programme year (1 July 2024 – 30 June 2025) and the activity plan for the next programme year until 1 July 2026 were approved.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, as well as private sector associations and public organisations from the organic and dairy sectors.
Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine Taras Vysotskyi emphasised the importance of Switzerland’s support for the sustainable development of Ukraine’s organic and dairy sectors and the development of SME potential in domestic and foreign markets.
“Ukrainian-Swiss cooperation has always been about sustainability, long-term partnership and results. Today’s meeting and the active involvement of stakeholders confirm the correctness of our joint comprehensive approach. On behalf of the ministry, I would like to express my gratitude to Switzerland for its support and the results we are achieving through our joint efforts. The dairy sector is showing steady growth in production, volume, livestock numbers and quality, thanks in particular to Switzerland’s support. Positive changes are also taking place in the organic sector, with work underway to align Ukraine’s organic legislation with the new European Union regulations. From a business perspective, we are ready for the requirements of future EU membership and are confident that Ukraine will become a reliable partner for our European colleagues. At the political level, we are ready to support initiatives that promote the development of the sectors. We are moving forward together, and this cooperation is aimed at strengthening the Ukrainian agricultural sector,” said Mr. Vysotskyi.
Serhii Tkachuk, Head of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, highlighted the results of many years of cooperation with QFTP.
“Over the years of the programme’s implementation, we have made significant progress in developing a raw milk control system and introducing organic legislation. Today, Ukraine has relevant registers, producers use the state logo for organic products, and consumers receive high-quality and safe products. The programme’s activities have brought the raw milk control system in Ukraine to a high digital level. Today, 85% of market operators are included in the system, which greatly facilitates the work of milk processing enterprises and promotes the development of exports. Without the daily work of the programme, this would have been difficult to achieve. We highly appreciate the support of Switzerland and the QFTP team for their systematic work and are confident that even more successful results lie ahead,” he added.
Oleksii Grushetskyi, Deputy Director of the State Institution “Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office”, who chaired the Steering Commitee, thanked Switzerland for its continued support, which has made long-term cooperation with the programme possible since 2021.
He added: “Together with QFTP, we are working to address key issues in the organic and dairy sectors. Every year, we implement new initiatives to promote the export of higher value-added products and support SMEs in entering new markets. We have an open dialogue that allows us to adjust our activities and implement relevant solutions to support the sectors. I am grateful for the opportunity to develop the sectors together and I especially thank the business community for their active participation and support of our initiatives, because you are the key players in this process.”
Marco Kräuchi, Program Manager at Organic Focal Point Trade Promotion Division, State Secretariat for Economic Affair (SECO, Switzerland), has underlined the long-standing support of Switzerland for Ukraine, which began back in 1999. Support for the organic sector has continued for almost 20 years, and for the dairy sector for 10 years, and it will continue in the future.
“I am impressed with the resilience of Ukrainian people, who despite the war and difficult circumstances, continue to focus on what needs to be done to support their country. We are pleased with the progress that the QFTP programme has made over the years. Through this programme we have supported alignment with EU regulations for the organic and dairy sectors and worked to strengthen the capacities of Ukrainian government officials, service providers and SMEs to produce and export more organic and dairy higher-value products, as well as to develop the domestic market. This progress has only been possible thanks to strong partnerships with government, stakeholders and the private sector.” – mentioned Mr. Kräuchi
In the new programme year, QFTP will continue to implement a set of measures in the organic and dairy sectors aimed at improving the regulatory framework in the context of European integration, developing trade in domestic and foreign markets, and supporting the production of higher value-added products.
Phase II of the Swiss-Ukrainian Programme ”Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector of Ukraine” (QFTP) is funded by Switzerland and implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL, Switzerland) in partnership with SAFOSO AG (Switzerland).
