Ukrainian dairy farmers enter the Japanese market
Coordination of the certificate with Japan also has a positive signaling value, since this country sets high requirements for product safety, and it recognizes Ukrainian dairy products as such. In addition, this gives a positive signal to other countries with which Ukraine plans to agree on similar certificates.
The geography milk export from Ukraine to EU. At the same time, in monetary and physical terms, exports, unfortunately, show downward trends.
“Japan sets high requirements for product safety. At the end of 2020, it was in 95th place among the states to which Ukraine exported milk. We can assume that domestic products were not imported there. Therefore, the approval of a veterinary certificate for import is undoubtedly a positive event for Ukrainian traders.
However, about a dozen domestic companies can still count on cooperation with Japan. In order for the number of exporters to increase, the state must provide reliable mechanisms for stimulating the development of the domestic dairy industry, in particular, bring order to the uncompetitive import of dairy products from the EU. Otherwise, the Ukrainian dairy sector will deepen into crisis and will not be able to take advantage of the chance to enter new markets.
The owner of Dzenzelivskoe LLC, Nikolai Severin, shares his vision of the current situation in the dairy sector.
LLC "Dzenzelivskoe" is a dairy farm, which today has more than 1,500 head of cows. Since 2015, we have been members of the Milk Producers Association. The reconstruction of the MTF began in 2011. Year after year, they increased their capacity: they renovated dilapidated premises, purchased livestock and invested 32 million UAH in development.
Now up to 20 tons are produced daily with fat and protein levels of 4% and 3.4%, respectively, which corresponds to European baseline indicators. Moreover, this is the highest grade raw milk - the same one that was mentioned at the beginning of the article, and the share of which in Ukraine among those delivered for processing is 34%.
That is, milk that is safe and suitable for food processing. This means that it contains no inhibitors, and the safety indicators - total bacterial contamination and somatic cell count - meet global standards
Today, prices for dairy products imported from the EU are lower than for domestic products. The reason is the subsidies that European exporters receive from the Commonwealth budget.
Moreover, according to the current WTO terms, from 2022, ZERO customs rates will be established for the import of dairy products from the EU to Ukraine, while at the same time, strict discriminatory restrictions apply to the export of Ukrainian products. For the European market, where there is a significant surplus of milk, this is a green light. There is a high probability that if we do not change the terms of cooperation with the WTO, then from January 1, 2022, uncontrolled imports of dairy products from the EU will pour into us.
The livestock industry, now more than ever, needs not only financial, but also political and economic support from the state.