Given the fairly favorable market situation today, the prospects for increasing the number of pigs in Ukraine are being discussed more and more often, but the domestic pig industry has been in almost complete export isolation in recent years.
Given that the domestic market, which is currently in short supply, may become oversaturated in the coming years, exports should be an integral part of any industry development strategy. Therefore, we are continuously working to open key Asian markets. Since the end of the 22nd year, Ukraine has officially announced its intention to start supplying pork to the European Union markets. Given the extremely high standards, technical support is needed to prepare for export to the EU. It is provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Technical experts from the programs they are implementing in Ukraine have contributed to the development of self-report questionnaires for pig processing enterprises to help them check their compliance with EU regulations. The next stage of technical support will involve advisory visits to the facilities of enterprises that have declared their readiness to be among the first to start exporting to the EU.
At the end of April, such preparatory audits of three companies in Lviv region took place.
"Our team is satisfied with the results of this mission, as we have seen a good technical base and well-established HACCP procedures in our daily work. Although there is still a lot of work to be done, the main thing is that both business and the relevant government agencies are willing to move in this direction," commented Oksana Yurchenko, who coordinates FAO and EBRD projects in Ukraine and Moldova.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) aims to reduce poverty and hunger in the world by developing agriculture, improving nutrition and addressing food security (the availability of food to all at all times). It was founded in Quebec on October 16, 1945. The motto is "Helping to build a world without hunger".
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution that provides assistance to countries from Central Europe to Central Asia to carry out market reforms and actively integrate their economies into international economic relations. The headquarters is located in London.
Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders is a non-profit, voluntary organization founded by domestic pork producers. The main goals of the association are to represent and protect the rights and interests of the association's farms, promote the development and implementation of new technologies for efficient pork production, expand sales markets, and protect the domestic market.
During 2021-2023, FAO and the EBRD are implementing the program "Animal Health, Food Safety and Quality Assurance Programs in Ukraine and Moldova". The main components of the program are (i) improving the control of the epizootic situation, with a focus on transboundary animal diseases, in particular African swine fever; (ii) reducing the risks of antibiotic resistance; and (iii) establishing agricultural production and supply chains in the context of the war in Ukraine.
