Fair food-Ukraine

• Initial step

Clusterisation as a modern way of business cooperation aimed at innovative transformation of the economy has become popular in UKraine since 2015. That time, the EU-UA Association Agreement had just been signed and the EU community was opening new opportunities for reforming the Ukrainian national economy. Due to the donor support of the EU, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, other interested institutions and organizations, many educational events were held. NGO "Analytical Center of the Agrarian Union of Ukraine" (PO AC AUU), its colleagues and partners participated widely in such events.

In 2017-2018 PO AC AUU implemented the project on development of self-governance in the agrarian sector of Ukraine financed by the USAID, Agriculture and Rural Development Support Project. Six profile business associations participated in this project (Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine, "Tvarinprom" Association, Association of Goat Breeders of Ukraine, Fumigation Association, Association of Gardeners, Summer Gardeners and Kitchen Gardeners of Ukraine, All-Ukrainian Association of Mushroom Producers). So, during a discussion on the legal frame for sectoral self-governance it appeared that a cluster is the best option. As it can unite producers, their business associations with umbrella organisations like the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine and think-tanks represented in the place by the Analytical Center of the Agrarian Union of Ukraine.

• «FairProduct.UA», 2018

This is how the initiative to create the "FairProduct.UA" cluster was born. It happened on January 11, 2018. It was decided that, within the framework of the cluster, profile business associations will play as organizations upholding standards as voluntary documents. Such standards are supposed to be based on former state standards, best domestic practices and harmonised with the standards of international organizations. As well. it was supposed that education, consultations, audits will be performed by authorized specialists and companies. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine received the competence to support national horizontal standards that are common for different spheres. NGO "Analytical Center of the AUU", as a think tank, supposed to take care of the concept, internal procedures, the development and support of IT tools. The entire structure should rest on the shoulders of business, which with its resources contributes to the establishment of a modern national system of standardization and certification in accordance with global trends and principles.

However, the next activities has shown evidently that the food business and profile associations have not been ready for self-organization and functions of establishing rules business delegates to the state only. Moreover, it became evident that the business is not even familiar with the key ideas and concepts of voluntary certification, modern ways of consumer rights protection. The system of technical regulation, defined in the WTO agreements ratified by Ukraine in 2008 and repeated in the EU-UA Association Agreement remains unfamiliar for the business as well.

• Experience of the QS system, 2019

The opportunity to take the next step in the implementation of the modern system of conformity assessment in the food safety sphere appeared in the summer of 2019. Due to the support from the project "Agropolitical Dialogue" financed by the German Government the analytical note "Development of conformity assesment in agrarian sphere in Ukraine" has been developed.  Then a round table with the German profile officials and representatives of the QS system took place. Following this communication a visit of Ukrainian specialists was made to the QS headquarters in Bonn.

• «Food Safety Cluster Ukraine» (FSCU)

The more opportunities for continuing work on the cluster of self-organised fair food producers have opened up within the framework of the project "Strengthening the position of NGOs in the regions as participants in the reform of the food safety system aimed at overcoming corruption", financed by the program MATRA Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine. It was implemented by the NGO PO AC AUU during 2019-2021. 

However, the idea of ​​a cluster assisting food businesses in meeting requirements of modern markets has gone here through an evolutionary path as well. Initially, it was proposed to transform the Fine Product.UA cluster into a Food Safety Cluster Ukraine (FSCU) cluster and to develop it as a unit of the food trainers' network developed under the framework of this project. It was assumed that the further promotion of the cluster would be handled by a consortium of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine, the PO AC AUU, the PO 'Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation' and the Sumy National Agrarian University. It was planned that the activities of the cluster will be aimed at innovative development in line with the European cluster collaboration platform. 

But the plans to enter the European cluster community was postponed due to lack of resources. PO AC AUU had some different obligations under the frame of the MATRA program and to put the next development in line with it.

• Declaration portal vs Cluster of honest market operators

The project implemented under the framework of the MATRA program, supposed development of the Declaration Portal enabling business to declare compliance with the requirements of Ukrainian legislation. It was assumed that the Declaration Portal will become a natural addition to the Inspection Portal - a platform that concentrates information on state inspections. The key idea was that information concentrated at the Declaration Portal would reduce the degree of risk and therefore the frequency of state inspections for the food business.

But the food business appeared not ready to accept this idea as well. Due to wide corruption and poor governance, business did not have the necessary degree of trust in the authorities. It was not ready to declare preparation for state inspections. Business was wary of spreading information that indicates meeting only some requirements of the law as this may encourage attention of corrupt inspectors to inspect implementation of part of not yet implemented requirements.

Instead, the idea of ​​certification, which performs the same function of declaring compliance with the requirements of regulatory documents, looks acceptable, common and even desirable for business. In addition, certification serves the goal even better, since it involves a much larger volume of declaration than simply fulfilling the requirements of the current legislation of Ukraine. Certification according to international standards and other regulative documents plays as an argument not only for the state authorities to reduce the degree of risk of the food business operator in the state inspections, but also gives a guarantee for consumers in domestic and international markets.

• «FairFood-Ukraine» (FFU), 2021

This is how the concept of the cluster of honest food business operators "FairFood-Ukraine" (FFU), which is focused, first of all, on attracting international certification systems and relevant auditors to work with food business operators in Ukraine was born.

The basic principles of the FFU cluster are consciousness and voluntariness. These principles are supposed to ensure the creation of a community of honest food business operators taking care about the consumer and planning to stay afloat for years. Food business demonstrated ignorance, formal compliance with the requirements of the law, bribery of inspectors, supply of falsified and counterfeit products to the market is to be put aside - and it is to be evident. 

Within the framework of the cluster, special attention is paid to education. It is envisaged not only to declare the fair passing of training by food business operators, but also to ensure compliance of professional knowledge and skills of the trainers. Such requirements emphasize the importance of education in modern economic development. This fully complies not only 'with the spirit' but also 'with the letter' of the European Food Safety Management System (FSMS).

And one more aspect. Compliance with the requirements of the legislation, the international standards and other regulatory documents today is significantly complicated by the fact that it requires businesses to rebuild and modernize assets. It requires credits and investments in a case when there are no relevant programs and products on the financial market of Ukraine. Financial institutions explain the situation by the high risks of working with domestic business in whole and partially with food business. Therefore, another value of the FFU cluster is the possibility of reducing risks due to using  the same certification tools in the field of financial services aimed at securing loans and investments.

The FFU cluster was publicly presented and open for members to join on August 31, 2021. Since that date, domestic food business is invited to get training services of trainers on food safety issues prepared under the framework of the MATRA program, to join the cluster according cluster rules and to declare integrity at the FFU-basic-beginner level (passing trainings in preparation for state inspections, FFU:UA:B:<area of state control>) and the next level of integrity FFU-basic-approved based on the results of successful state control. As well two other levels FFU-advanced-encounter (FFU:Int:E:) and FFU-advanced-approved (FFU:Int:A:) are available for declaration.

• Current situation

Russian aggression, the war in Ukraine, of course, had an impact on the further development of events around the FFU cluster. However, development has not being stopped at all.

Due to the support through the EaP Civil Society Forum Re-granting Scheme (FSTP) to Members funded by the European Union as part of its support to civil society in the region, the NGO AC ASU was able to provide a number of trainings for food businesses in the regions on involvement in the FFU cluster activities. Also, within the framework of regranting, the development of an English-language version of the www.ffu.net.ua app has become possible.

In June 2022, Ukraine received the prospect of EU membership. And even before that, in May 2022, the European Commission presented the vision of mechanisms for supporting the reconstruction of Ukraine in the Communication to the EU governing bodies, the European Social and Economic Committee and the Committee of the Regions "Ukraine relief and reconstruction".

These mean the availability of mechanisms, including financial, for accelerating European integration, introducing European norms and rules in Ukraine. Therefore, in the near future we expect the acceleration of harmonization of agrarian policy, implementation of the EU Green Course, a part of which is the concept of "from farm to table". The activities of the FFU cluster are aimed precisely at intensifying these processes in Ukraine. And we hope for the full-scale development of the FairFood-Ukraine cluster in coming times.