Given the high demand for piglets and a supply that cannot meet it, some operators expected, in contrast to the List of Critical Imports goods, that would allow them to import marketable young pigs from abroad. Especially since the main barrier - the ban on the transit of pigs through European Union (EU) countries, where African swine fever (ASF) has been registered, has already been lifted.
At the same time, the supply of marketable young pigs to Ukraine has a number of obstacles and caveats, which were commented by the President of the Association "Pig Breeders of Ukraine" Oksana Yurchenko:
1. The list of countries from which young pigs can be imported is insignificant. These are either countries free from ASF (Denmark, England, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic), or the safe regions/zones in the case of Poland and Lithuania.
2. young animals are imported according to the requirements stipulated in the agreed veterinary certificates. The vast majority of them provide for laboratory examination of each head during quarantine in the country of origin, the cost of which often equals or exceeds the value of the animal. An exception is the certificate with Germany, one of the newest: piglets are not examined, only the breeding stock. However, because of ASF, it is forbidden to import piglets from that country.
3. Consider the cost of significantly increased logistics. For example a piglet-carriage with 600-700 piglets from Denmark would cost at least 10-11 thousands Euro.
4. The operators themselves say that to find a large batch of marketable young stock is not so easy, because breeding farms mostly work under the order with a permanent customer base.
5. Transportation in summer is limited due to welfare requirements. European countries either impose a ban on long-distance transport during the heat wave (July to October) or allow movement based on the weather. In the latter case, the end of the quarantine may come with high temperatures, which means that animals will have to continue to be held while waiting for the heat to abate.
6. Another important factor that should not be forgotten: the price on the market is always regulated by supply and demand. Considering that in Ukraine the supply of culls slightly decreased as a result of the war, and the demand remains at a fairly high level, the price of pigs of slaughtering conditions has increased. This attracts operators. So, today the demand for piglets is "heated up" not only by fattening companies which stopped their activities during the crisis of 2021, but also by those who are engaged in crop farming, to convert cheap feed to more expensive meat. In case the operators bring in large volumes of young stock, fatten them up and at a certain point "release" them on the market, a surge in supply could lead to negative price dynamics. The risk of such a scenario should be borne in mind by all those who wish to import young stock from abroad.
The Association of Ukranian Pig Breeders is a nonprofit, voluntary organization founded by domestic pork producers. The main objectives of the association are representation and protection of rights and interests of the association farms, promoting the development and introduction of new technologies for the efficient production of pork, expansion of markets, protection of domestic sales market