Phase II of the Swiss-Ukrainian Program “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” (QFTP) has been launched. It is aimed to contribute to sustainable trade with more and better jobs by strengthening the business competitiveness and capacities of SMEs in the organic and dairy sectors.

During the first QFTP Phase II Steering Committee meeting, which was held on 7 September 2023, First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Taras Vysotskyi noted: “Both sectors, organic and dairy, which Switzerland continues to support, are crucial for Ukraine. First of all, this assistance helps to increase the production of value added products, which has great prospects for both increasing exports of these products and their distribution on the domestic market. Therefore, the Swiss Confederation's sustainable approach to long-term support for these sectors is extremely important for us”.

Acting Head of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection Olga Shevchenko stressed: “As part of the Program’s support for the organic and dairy sectors, we highly appreciate the level of cooperation that we have. In the context of the war in Ukraine, raising awareness, finding the ways to improve organic and dairy production for the domestic market, and expanding access to export markets have been and remain a priority. I’m grateful to the Program for improving awareness about Ukrainian organic and dairy products and helping to jointly develop and implement the legislation in line with the global and, in particular, EU requirements”.

In his turn, Silvan Hungerbühler, Program Manager, Organic Focal Point Trade Promotion Division, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO, Switzerland), speaking about the Program importance and long-term Swiss-Ukrainian cooperation, highlighted: “During the implementation of QFTP Phase I we saw that the Program team fulfils its objectives for the development of the organic and dairy sectors. QFTP contributes to creation of new trade opportunities and competitive business environment. For our part, we are ready to support the Program's activities that will ensure the development of trade with organic and dairy products”.

Andrii Lytvyn, Deputy Director of State Institution “Entrepreneurship and Export Development Office” (EEPO) was elected as the Chairman of the Steering Committee meeting, who, in his turn, stressed: “Over the course of our fruitful partnership with the Program, we have jointly managed to implement a large number of activities for business. We appreciate the QFTP’s comprehensive approach, which covers all parts of support for Ukrainian small and medium-sized businesses. I also express my gratitude to our Swiss partners for sharing our priorities and supporting the development of Ukrainian business, helping both financially and organisationally in the implementation of many projects for Ukrainian organic and dairy businesses”.

During the meeting, the QPTP Phase I final report and QFTP Phase II activity plan until June 2024 were approved.

It is expected that as a result of implementation of Phase II of the Program, which will last until 2026, the Ukrainian regulatory framework and business environment will be improved and aligned with the EU regulation, and trade capacity on the domestic and export markets with higher value added products relating to the organic and dairy sectors will be increased.

The Swiss-Ukrainian Program “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” is funded by Switzerland and implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL, Switzerland) in partnership with SAFOSO AG (Switzerland).