Some Ukrainian pork producers and processors plan to start exporting pork to EU next year as they study European regulations and prepare for unofficial audits on the compliance of their products with export requirements.
At the moment, four Ukrainian enterprises of the industry are interested in launching pork exports to Europe, according to the website of the Association of Ukrainian Pork Producers (ASU) on Thursday.
“We have been working with experts and the veterinary service to have “draft” questionnaires ready in advance for enterprises that want to check whether they meet the requirements of EU regulations. A number of processors interested in exporting pork have gone through these questionnaires to assess what they need to polish to prove their compliance with regulations,” the organization quotes its president Oksana Yurchenko as saying.
According to her data, the EU “has a certain understanding” that next year may be introduced certain indulgences for Ukrainian pork products, which before the full-scale Russian aggression was not even particularly discussed.
“Next year, in cooperation with international organizations, we will start informal audits to support such producers. Now there are four enterprises,” Oksana Yurchenko stressed in a statement.
According to ACU estimates, the European Union will be open to exports of Ukrainian pork for up to two years, and this is not a pessimistic scenario.
In turn, the industry is promoting the official approval of international certificates for the export of pork to Vietnam and Hong Kong, but so far it is not very relevant, because the sea routes are closed due to the aggression of Russia, and other logistics for producers financially unprofitable.
As reported, on May 11, 2022, the European Commission allowed the export of pork, beef and processed meat products produced in Ukraine to third countries via the EU.
As of February 1, 2022, the total number of pigs in Ukraine amounted to 5.56 million, a decrease of 3.4% compared to the same date in 2021. Data for the following months was not published by the State Statistics Committee due to the beginning of full-scale Russian military aggression in Ukraine.
Consumption of pork per capita in Ukraine this year will be 20 kg/year, up slightly from 19.9 kg/year in 2021. A total of 625 thousand tons of meat and meat products will be produced in the country during the year.
