China is interested in beef shipments from Ukraine and plans to send its mission late in April to verify Ukraine`s state food safety control system, according to the press office of the State Biosecurity and Consumer Protection Service.
”The possibility of exporting Ukrainian beef to the market of China is being actively considered now. With this aim in view, a mission of a Chinese regulator is scheduled to visit Ukraine late in April. They will check the system of state control of food safety, in particular, in beef production,” it said.
Ukrainian producers` access to the Chinese market is of strategic importance to Ukraine, the press office said, as the expansion of sales markets will contribute to boosting production by Ukrainian agri-businesses.
In particular, during their visit to Ukraine, Chinese experts will check the functioning of the Biosecurity and Consumer Protection Service, its territorial departments and laboratories, after which they will inspect if meat-processing plants meet Chinese standards and then will certify them.
China is also mulling over the possibility of buying oilseed meal, dry beet pulp and other products from Ukraine, the Ukrainian agency said.
Earlier, exports of Ukrainian agrarian products rose by 4.5% in 2016 from 2015, to $15.5 billion (42.5% of total Ukrainian exports), according to the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry. Grain crops, vegetable oil, oilseeds, soybeans, sugar and meat traditionally were export-oriented staples. Key markets were Asian countries (45.9% of exports, worth $7 billion), the European Union (27.5% of exports, $4.2 billion), Africa (15.7% of exports, $2.4 billion), the CIS countries (7.7% of exports, $1.2 billion), and the United States (0.9% of exports, $45 million).
