The issues of harmonising Ukrainian food safety legislation with European Union standards were the main topic of the panel discussion “Food Safety and Traceability in Ukraine’s Dairy Sector: A European Integration Dimension”. The discussion was moderated by Iryna Vysotska, Deputy Local Manager and Coordinator of the Dairy Sector Component of the QFTP Project.

The discussion was attended by the Chief Expert of the Dairy Sector Component of QFTP, Tetyana Harkavenko, Chief Specialist of the Food Safety Department of the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine Mykola Tibezh, Director of the Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Medicine of the State Service for Food and Consumer Protection of Ukraine Ihor Lotskin, Head of the Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine Vadym Chagarovsky, Deputy Director General and Head of Projects for Cooperation with AVM Processing Olena Zhupinas, and Chief Consultant of QFTP Yuriy Oglashenny.

During the discussion, participants emphasised that food safety and traceability are among the basic conditions for Ukraine’s integration into the EU single market and directly affect the competitiveness of Ukrainian dairy products. Considerable attention was paid to adapting the Ukrainian regulatory framework to European requirements, introducing quality control systems, and addressing practical aspects of implementing standards in milk production and processing.

Separately, the issues of state control and audit of raw milk producers, the need to strengthen the institutional capacity of state bodies and coordination between regulators were discussed. The mechanisms for conducting audits of processing enterprises with the participation of inspectors of the State Service for the Supervision of Food and Consumer Protection of Ukraine, even during the moratorium on inspections, at the request of the enterprises themselves, and the role of effective supervision in building trust in Ukrainian dairy products were also discussed.

Business representatives highlighted the challenges arising from implementing new requirements and emphasised the need for a balanced approach to regulation that takes into account the real capabilities of Ukrainian enterprises. The Chairman of the Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine, Vadym Chagarovsky, also insisted on the creation of state registers of both processing enterprises and producers of raw milk, emphasising that this is an important prerequisite for an effective traceability and quality control system. Important topics also included cooperation between raw milk producers and processing companies, as well as the use of household-produced milk.

Participants paid close attention to the digitalisation of traceability processes in the dairy chain. The discussion focused on the need for modern systems to trace the origin of raw milk and finished products, which should serve to increase market transparency, strengthen the trust of European partners, and expand export opportunities for the Ukrainian dairy industry.

The participants of the discussion emphasised that the full integration of the Ukrainian dairy sector into the EU market requires not only the formal approximation of legislation to European standards but also the effective implementation of traceability systems, the strengthening of state control, and the digitalisation of the industry.

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The event is held in partnership with the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) with the support of:
• Switzerland within the framework of the Swiss-Ukrainian program “Development of trade with higher added value in the organic and dairy sectors of Ukraine” (QFTP), which is implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL, Switzerland) in partnership with SAFOSO AG (Switzerland);
• Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine.