On 19 September 2023, online training “State Supervision in Organic Sector: Experience of Poland” was held. About 150 specialists from the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection joined the training and had an opportunity to learn from the international experts from the Polish Agriculture and Food Quality Inspection, as well as independent experts with relevant experience in organic production.

In her welcome speech Maryna Kyslytska, Head of the State Policy Division on Organic Production of the Food Security and Excise Products Directorate of the Department of State Policy on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, noted: “The Ministry's tasks today are not only to establish requirements that comply with the rules of production in accordance with the updated EU organic legislation, but also to build a system of appropriate control. Such actions are important from the point of view of Ukraine's status as an EU candidate country, which can confirm the appropriate level and be recognized by other countries. I am grateful to the experts from Poland for agreeing to share their experience in control over organic operators, as well as the products during their sale”.

“It is very important for the SSUFSCP specialists to gain knowledge and practical experience applied in the European countries. This is confirmed by the number of our specialists who joined the regular training on state supervision (control) in the organic sector. After all, the implementation of proper state control will inspire confidence both among organic market players and consumers,” said Anna Yermak, Head of the Organic Production Division of the Food and Feed Safety Directorate of the Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Medicine, State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection.

Natalie Prokopchuk, Organic Component Coordinator, Swiss-Ukrainian Program “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” (QFTP), said: “Switzerland, as part of our international technical assistance programme, will support capacity development of the SSUFSCP and MAPFU specialists to ensure that organic legislation in Ukraine is harmonised with the relevant EU legislation and properly implemented. Thanks to the fact that Ukraine has chosen the vector of European integration, we can learn from the experience of our colleagues from the European Union, Poland in particular, which is ready to share its experience in the practical implementation of organic legislation, including state supervision (control) in the organic sector”. 

Natalie also expressed her sincere gratitude to the Ministry for the leading role and fruitful work of the Ministerial Organic Working Group and the SSUFSCP for their proactive position and desire to improve new skills and knowledge of state inspectors in the performance of their responsibilities.

Michal Rzytki, Independent Expert, Director’s Advisor, Polish Centre for Accreditation, spoke about the organic sector in Poland, including legislation, organic action plan, purpose of organic production, importance of state control in the organic sector, and state support. In his report he also elaborated on the control system and the role of state institutions in the organic sector.

Malgorzata Waszewska, Director, Agriculture and Food Quality Inspection - Department of Organic Agriculture and Regional Products of Poland, spoke in detail about:

• general rules and requirements for the activities of operators: primary producers (crop production, livestock production, and aquaculture), processors and traders, as well as how state control (supervision) is carried out;
• rules, regulations and monitoring of organic products on the market in order to prevent non-organic products labelled as organic from entering the market.

This event is organised with support of Switzerland within the framework of the Swiss-Ukrainian Program “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” (QFTP) implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL, Switzerland) in partnership with SAFOSO AG (Switzerland).