New rules: Will Ukrainian meat manage to get to the EU market?

The problem of the use of antibiotics and growth promoters in animal farming has been of concern for quite some time now. Nowadays, more experts point out that the abuse of these drugs leads to serious health problems in consumers, writes “Agro-Center”.

Recently, a roundtable discussion of the European Business Association “Antimicrobial Resistance System in Animal Husbandry” was held in Kyiv. During the event, David John, an expert of the European Association of Veterinary Manufacturers “AnimalHealthEurope”, said that in 2022, the EU might ban the import of meat and other products of animal origin manufactured with the use of antibiotics.

“The new regulation on veterinary medicine suggests that the EU will be able to restrict the import of animals or animal products from the Third World countries if they do not comply with rules that are same or similar to the rules established in the EU. For example, the use growth promoters is prohibited,”

said David John.

According to the expert, the new regulation has already been approved by the European Parliament and will come into force next week.

“We do not know how strictly this legislation will be applied. Perhaps, it will only concern the use of antibiotics and growth promoters. Some countries, for example, Brazil, are already raising this issue in the WTO,”

said David John.

According to the expert, the new rules will be applied in three years. Therefore, manufacturers have time to reformat their work in accordance with the new regulations.

Let’s recall that this year Ukraine succeeded in becoming one of the top three world leaders in the export of poultry meat to the EU. More countries are opening their markets for Ukrainian chicken meat. In January-August 2018, Ukraine made 290 million dollars on chicken meat exports. This, is by 22% more than last year.

Previously, we posted about the fact that they plan to abandon the use of antibiotics in animal breeding in Ukraine.