Opening European Markets to Ukrainian Poultry Producers

Landmark EU approval clears the way for Ukrainian poultry to appear on European supermarket shelves with World Bank Group help

The European Commission recently granted approval for three Ukrainian poultry producers to export their products to EU markets. For the first time Ukrainian producers will be allowed to supply affluent European consumers with processed poultry food products. This ruling has the potential to increase Ukraine’s export of meat (all types) by roughly 40 percent, yielding an additional $70 million in export revenue per year.

“This is a watershed moment for our poultry industry and for the development of Ukrainian exports overall,” said Volodymyr Lapa, General Director of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club. “The EU’s recognition of Ukrainian poultry affirms both the high quality and safety standards maintained by our producers. This can also create access to other highly populated markets of Asia, Middle-East and the Far East.”

The World Bank Group’s advice and assistance to local public and private sector stakeholders was central to this great achievement. Investment climate teams in Ukraine worked side-by-side with the Veterinary and Phytosanitary Agency to develop poultry checklists in accordance with EU legislation. Four checklists, adopted by the Agency as recommendations, were used to assess local poultry producers on their compliance with EU regulations and to submit a list of identified potential exporters to the European Commission for approval.

“The World Bank Group’s assistance was essential for opening European markets to Ukraine,” according to Vitaliy Bashinskyi, Deputy Head, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Agency of Ukraine. “Particularly useful were continuous public-private consultations on the specificity of European food legislation. The large share of success was due to the checklists that provided an objective and comprehensive mechanism for identifying potential exporters.”