The introduction of a new policy in organic production will provide new opportunities for Ukrainian exports. This was announced by Miguel de Porras, director of FiBL Europe.
"Consumers of organic products can trust imported products, it is a question of traceability of the entire production and cultivation chain. Today, the main organic products supplied from Ukraine to the EU are cereals” — said Miguel de Porras, talking about the main objectives of the EU action plan for the development of organic production.
According to him, the countries of the European Union need to share experience in using best practices: public procurement, cooperation with the private sector, development of bioregions.
The EU action plan for the development of organic production contains actions that can increase the demand for organic products, which will grow faster than production. This will create additional export opportunities for Ukraine.
According to the monitoring conducted by the Ministry of Economy, in 2019 the total area of agricultural land with organic status amounted to about 468 thousand hectares (1.1% of the total area of agricultural land in Ukraine). At the same time, there were 617 operators of the organic market, 470 of them were agricultural producers.
Today, the domestic consumer market of organic products in Ukraine continues to expand through the main supermarket chains. The main types of organic products produced in Ukraine are cereals, milk and dairy products, groats, meat, fruits, and vegetables.
Ukrainian organic products are bought mainly by EU countries. In 2019, Ukraine ranked 2nd out of 123 countries in terms of imports of organic products to the EU, rising two places compared to the previous year.
Thus, in 2019, 3.24 million tons of organic agri-food products were imported into the EU, more than 10% of which are Ukrainian. At the same time, Ukrainian imports to the EU increased by 27% - from 265.8 thousand tons in 2018 to 337.9 thousand tons in 2019.
The largest consumers of domestic organic products are the Netherlands, Germany, USA, Switzerland, Italy, Great Britain, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Romania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Canada, and Denmark. Ukrainian producers also export to Australia and some Asian countries. The main export products are cereals, oilseeds, berries, mushrooms, nuts, and fruits. Sunflower seeds, flour, sunflower oil, sunflower meal, apple concentrate, and birch sap are also exported.
Earlier agro.me.gov.ua reported that the government has approved the direction of state support for organic production, the next step is the creation of the procedure for the use of funds to make the support work this year. This was announced by Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture Taras Vysotsky at the V International Congress "Organic Ukraine 2021" organized by the NGO "Organic Ukraine", which is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy, the press service of the department reports.
"Currently, we are finalizing the vision of this area at the level of public discussions with the participation of stakeholders in the industry. It is important to show to investors that the support of the organic industry is a long-term prospect, at least until 2025, so producers can easily plan and invest in the development of this business" said Taras Vysotsky.
Deputy Minister Taras Vysotsky thanked international partners, including representatives of the Swiss Embassy, for their systematic support of such an initiative as the development of organic production.
