On September 23, 2022, an online Organic Day Ukraine conference was held, aimed at promoting the European Green Deal in Ukraine, raising awareness of organic products and the key role of organic farming in the transition to promote sustainable production.

Last year the annual organic day was initiated by the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission, and this year Ukraine has joined the day.

At the conference, First Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food of Ukraine Taras Vysotskyi reported on the status of organic legislation in Ukraine. Currently, the Ministry of Agricultural Policy is working on the accreditation of potential certification bodies, harmonization of the current organic legislation of Ukraine with the updated EU legislation and is revising the legal basis for control in the field of organic production.

Representatives of the organic certification body "Organic Standard" presented the current status and trends of organic exports. Ukraine exported more organic products in 8 months of 2022 than in 8 months of 2021. In addition, despite the all-out war, Ukrainian organic producers have launched new products this year: lozenges, muesli and instant cream soups, nectarine juice and essential oils.

The national expert Oleksandr Kaliberda presented the activities of the project "German-Ukrainian Cooperation in Organic Agriculture" and stated that an important task of the project is currently the support of organic producers in Ukraine. For this purpose, the project initiated the Emergency Aid for Organic Farming in Ukraine with the support of the Future Foundation for Agriculture in March this year. As part of the German donation program, 170 Ukrainian organic farms in 21 Ukrainian regions have already received financial support totaling 560,000 euros. Among the operators are producers of organic plant and animal products, processors, cooperatives and greenhouse farms.

The COA project actively provides information about organic agriculture in Ukraine and supports activities for the export of organic protein feed to the EU.

The full conference recording can be viewed at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFpk9p1wAiE

Conference organizers: Ministry of Agricultural Policy and Food of Ukraine, Office for the Development of Entrepreneurship and Export in cooperation with the Association “Organic Initiative” with the support of Switzerland within the Swiss-Ukrainian programs “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and the Dairy Sector in Ukraine" (QFTP) and "Organic Trade 4 Development in Eastern Europe" (OT4D).