Implications of the future Ukraine EU Association Agreement and deep FTA as its core to food safety,

1
Implications of the future Ukraine EU
Association Agreement and deep FTA as its core to
food safety, sanitary and phytosanitary policy

• Tony Wheale, Food safety expert
• Implementation of Ukraines Commitments under WTO
  and ENP Frameworks in the Rural Sector
  (SWAP-RURAL Project)
• Presentation for the conference on Ukraine-EU
  Free Trade Area as an instrument of European
  integration and internal reforms
• Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
• 9 April 2009, Kyiv
• 9 April 2009

2
Food Safety and the EU

• Food is one of the few commodities that are
  indispensable to every single person on earth
• Food is also a commodity that is now traded on a
  global scale
• The World Bank reported that the European Union
  was by far the largest importer of food in 2005
  the US was a long way behind
• Ability to access the EU market is therefore a
  very valuable asset
• An un-missable opportunity for Ukraine.

3
EU-Ukraine Action Plan
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures

• Increase food safety for consumers and facilitate
  trade through reforms and modernisation of
  sanitary and phytosanitary sectors
• Convergence towards the principles of EU sanitary
  and phytosanitary control legislation and
  institutions
• Convergence with EU food traceability legislation
  and general food safety principles.

4
EU-Ukraine Action Plan
Context

• Ukraine as a nation state
• Ukraine as an EU neighbour
• Ukraine as an EU trading partner
• Ukraine as a WTO member
• Ukraines legacy as a former part of the Soviet
  Union
• Ukraines state institutions
• Ukraines legal system.

5
Food Safety Ukraine Today
Food safety control system

• State control of business enterprises through
  permits and licences
• Duplication and overlaps between state inspection
  and laboratory services
• Focus on technical standards and end product
  testing
• Similarities with EU technical standard and
  conformity assessment system
• More focus on food quality than food safety.

6
Food Safety EU Today
Food safety control system

• State supervision of business enterprises
• Risk-based official controls
• One enterprise one inspector
• Producer responsibility for food safety
• Own-checks and self-control HACCP
• EU technical standard and conformity assessment
  system not applicable
• Focus on food safety, not food quality.

7
Food Safety EU Today
Food safety legislation

• Developed over a period of 50 years since the EU
  (EEC) was formed in 1957
• First EEC legislation similar to Ukraines
  technical standards
• First hygiene Directives in 1993
• Food scares and scandals prompted re-think
• Traceability cornerstone of food safety
• Official controls throughout the food chain from
  farm to fork
• Focus on producer responsibility for food safety
• Stricter border controls on third country imports.

8
Food Safety Ukraine Today
Action Plan Progress March 2008

• Cooperation between Ukraine and EU has increased
  on sanitary and phytosanitary issues
• Visits to Ukraine by EU Food and Veterinary
  Office to review residue monitoring, fishery
  products, dairy products and sunflower oil
• Veterinary agreement between Ukraine and the EU
  foreseen
• Progress with harmonisation of Ukraines food
  safety legislation with the EU

9
EU Food and Veterinary Office

• Monitors observance of food hygiene veterinary
  and plant health legislation within the EU and
  elsewhere and contributes to the maintenance of
  confidence in the safety of food offered to
  European consumers
• Assesses the ability of the official control
  authorities in third countries to ensure the
  standards laid down in EU legislation, including
  visits to individual farms, markets, processing
  establishments etc to assess compliance with
  relevant legislation by producers, transporters
  and processors

10
Food Safety Ukraine Tomorrow
Next Steps

• Continue the good progress that has been made
  already to harmonise legislation
• Address the issues identified by the EU Food and
  Veterinary Office on residue monitoring, fishery
  products, dairy products and sunflower oil
• Develop a medium-term strategy to implement the
  legislation and to move from a system of state
  control to state supervision
• Ensure traceability throughout the food chain
  from farm to fork
• Focus less on food quality and more on food
  safety.

11
Food Safety Ukraine Tomorrow
Next Steps

• Change is difficult
• Fundamental change is extremely difficult
• The EU system focuses state activity on areas
  where hazards and risks to food safety are
  significant
• Control officials need training identify those
  hazards and risks, and suitable control measures
• State institutions have a vital role in
  supervising safety of the food chain
• Food enterprises have a vital role in ensuring
  safety of the food chain
• Food quality should be a matter for consumer
  choice, facilitated by informative labelling.

12
Implementation of Ukraines Commitments under WTO
and ENP Frameworks in the Rural Sector
(SWAP-RURAL Project)

• Thank you
• Tony Wheale