In the context of russia's military aggression against Ukraine, the process of European integration and adaptation of European Union legislation, in particular, regarding the compliance of food products with the requirements of the European Union, which are supplied to domestic and foreign markets, has gained rapid momentum, the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy informs.
Thus, according to the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, starting from January 15, 2024, it is planned to switch to the use of the European Commission's online platform for certification and support for the export/import/transit of animals, animal and plant products, food and feed (TRACES NT) for the certification of goods in Ukraine, the implementation of which will greatly simplify the formal procedures for the export and transit of food products to the territory of the European Union when crossing the state border.
It is noted that the volume of food products to be certified using TRACES NT is determined by the forms of certificates adapted and integrated into the system, currently these are the following forms:
- official certificate for importation of eggs intended for human consumption into the European Union;
- official certificate for the importation of egg products intended for human consumption into the European Union;
- an official certificate for the importation into the European Union of dairy products intended for human consumption that are subject to specific risk reduction treatment other than pasteurization (MODEL DAIRY-PRODUCTS-ST);
- official certificate for importation into the European Union of honey and other bee products intended for human consumption;
- official certificate for the importation into the EU of semi-finished meat products intended for human consumption (MODEL MP-PREP);
- official animal health certificate for the importation into the EU of live fish, live crustaceans and products of animal origin from these animals intended for human consumption (FISH-CRUST-HC model);
- an official certificate for the importation into the Union of fresh meat intended for human consumption, except for chopped meat and mechanically deboned meat, from poultry, except for a number of keyless poultry (MODEL POU).
In the process of adapting and implementing certificate forms in TRACES NT, this list will be supplemented.
At the same time, in order to avoid unreasonable delays in the certification of goods (in accordance with the listed forms of certificates), it is proposed to take a number of preparatory measures, in particular:
- to familiarize yourself with the methodological materials on the functionality and first steps to start working with TRACES NT, as well as information on creating a certificate in the system.
- to determine the responsible person for registration in TRACES NT and creating a request for confirmation (validation) of the capacity and user role.
- to send a letter of request to the territorial office of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection at the location of the facility to confirm (validate) the facility in accordance with the guidelines available here.
The conditions for confirming (validating) the capacity in TRACES NT are state registration of the capacity or obtaining an operating permit for this capacity.