On June 25, 2019 the project “German-Ukrainian cooperation in organic agriculture” (COA) took part at the informational evening “Export of organic products from Ukraine to the EU”.
The event took place in the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was organized by the project Agritrade Ukraine and the German-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The COA was represented by the national expert Oleksandr Kaliberda with a report on the current state of the world organic market and the organic market of Ukraine.
Among others invited speakers were also Yuliia Voroshchyk (Organic Ukraine), Serhyi Halashevskyi (Organic Standard), Mariia Makhnovets (Ukrainian Organic Cluster) and Klaus-Jürgen Holstein (Foodexpertise GmbH).
Among the main points of the panel discussion were:
- there is a rapid and steady increase in exports of organic products in Ukraine since 2009
- Ukraine takes 4th place by volume of imported organic agricultural products in the EU
- The largest importers of Ukrainian organic products are the Netherlands and Germany
- Germany is a leader in the product range of imported organic products from Ukraine (about 39 items, including grain crops, fresh and frozen berries, apples, but also tomato paste and ice cream)
- On August 2, the Law of Ukraine " "On Basic Principles and Requirements for Organic Production, Turnover and Labelling of Organic Products", which takes into account the European experience in introducing public-private control system for the organic sector of agricultural production, takes effect.
- In the near future, the European Commission plans to introduce an electronic signature for export certificates, which should facilitate the process of customs clearance of products
Both Ukrainian and international experts pointed out that establishing personal relationships and maintaining trusted business relationships with buyers are crucial for export development. Another important point was cooperation among producers and other organizations operating in the agricultural field.
