Ukraine set to export poultry to EU
Imports of poultrymeat and eggs are expected to increase from Ukraine in 2013, following an agreement in Brussels to open the EU market.
A commission spokesman said negotiations for a free-trade agreement had been ongoing for several years, and EU inspectors had started assessing Ukrainian poultry producers in 2009.
A final decision was taken by EU vets on 5 December to authorise Ukranian egg and poultry exports. But it will still take several months for the legislative process to be complete, and Ukraine must also implement an effective salmonella control programme.
“Ukraine is now a fully-fledged player on the world’s food market and the hi-technology poultry production industry has overcome a previously unreachable frontier.”
Agricultural minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk
Agricultural minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk said that all potential suppliers would be audited in the coming months.
“Ukraine is now a fully-fledged player on the world’s food market and the hi-technology poultry production industry has overcome a previously unreachable frontier,” he said.
One leading poultry processor, MHPC, said it expected to start exporting poultry next summer. “As soon as Ukraine will be ready, we will be able to start shipping fast,” a spokeswoman told The Bloomberg newsagency.
And Kyiv Post quoted Dragon Capital Investment as saying that Ukrainian egg and poultry producers would enjoy “favourable pricing conditions”, as producers inside the EU faced higher costs due to the stricter welfare standards.
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