On June 14, 2021, the official opening of the Twinning project for the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection “Approximation of the national legislation of Ukraine in the fields of state supervision (control) of GMOs in open systems, protection of plant variety rights and seed and seeding production in line with EU norms and standards” took place.
This is the third Twinning project for the State Food and Consumer Service (SSUFSCP) and the second in which Latvia is a partner country.
Welcoming remarks were made by the Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine Roman Leshchenko, the project leaders from partner countries, relevant Sector Manager of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, representatives of the Embassies of Latvia, Poland and the Netherlands in Ukraine and representatives of Ukrainian agricultural business. The Twinning Program Administration Office was represented at the project kick-off meeting by Acting Director of the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to EU Standards – Mrs. Yulia Lykhach.
The RTA of the Project, Mr. Modris Frickmanis, spoke briefly about the main goals of the project, which are adaptation of Ukrainian legislation on GMO to acquis communautaire, examination of the institutional capacity of the SSUFSCP and training its employees in the relevant field (about 100 employees of the SSUFSCP are estimated to get trained), as well as examination of phytosanitary laboratories (at least 90 laboratory employees are planned to get trained). The estimated duration of the project is 21 months.
The project is long-expected for representatives of agricultural business in Ukraine. It is expected that as a result of the successful implementation of the project, the cultivation of genetically modified crops in Ukraine will become legal, and an effective mechanism for control and supervision of genetically modified products in Ukraine will work in accordance with European quality standards. Such results will increase agricultural supplies from Ukraine to the EU, as well as to other countries.
