Infagro: Speaking about dairy industry, are there in the Law of Ukraine “On milk and milk products” any special, industry-specific provisions concerning the safety and quality of dairy products, the ones which are not covered by the Law of Ukraine “On Basic Principles and Requirements for Safety and Quality of Food Products”?

The Law of Ukraine “On Basic Principles and Requirements for Safety and Quality of Food Products” contains all the necessary requirements that ensure that the products – in our case, dairyproducts –will be safe to consume in case the requirements are met. With regard to the Law of Ukraine “On Milk and Milk Products” in its current version – it does not have significant sense considering the current Law “On Basic Principles and Requirements for Safety and Quality of Food Products” that had been adopted.

Infagro: For quite a long time some producers have been insisting on the amendments to the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On milk and milk products” aimed at regulation of the issues related to production and market distributionof filled milk products. In your opinion, are these innovations necessary?

The question of the existence and production of the filled milk products has been actively discussed by the dairy market players for a long time. I think that the market decides if there is a need in such products. The demand creates its own supply. Accordingly, if such products are now being produced and they will be produced in the future, then there is a need in the regulation of the processes. This regulation can be implemented in any form, either through the introduction of amendments to the existing legislation, as well as through the development and adoption of a new legal act.

As speaking of milk and filled milk products we mean different products, I would divide also the regulation of this matter. But the final word belongs to the state. It is necessary to analyze what approach can be more practical and convenient, especially for the consumers.

In any case, if the government introduces such a thing as a filled milk product, it should provide a large-scale information campaign for the consumers and explain the difference between milk and filled milk products.

The difference between these products can be enormous. Under current legislationmilk products are to be made from milk and/or raw milk which is thermally treated, or products consisting of milk constituents such as lactose, milk protein, milk fat. Only the supplements that cannot replace the components of milk (lactose, milk fat, protein) are allowed to be used. For example, jam.

This is not the case with filled milk products. According to one of the draft bills, theamendments proposed, if adopted, then it will make possible that in a filled milk product the share of components other than milk, non-dairy fats,may reach 50%. During the discussion of the amendments, this share can be changed to either higher or lower percent. Therefore, in case of introducing the concept of filled milk products, the state is obliged to provide the consumer with information on how much milk is in a particular filled milk product and what it means for the consumer’s health. Otherwise, the consumer will not be able to make a conscious choice, he will not be protected.

I want to draw your attention that in Europe, for example, the concept of a filled milk product does not exist. There are dairy products and others. Moreover, as milk can be an allergen for some consumers, on food products it is indicated if milk is contained.

Іnfagro: How the state control on the safety of dairy products is currently provided? Do we need today to introduce further amendments to the legislation to protect consumers from unscrupulous manufacturers?

The main prerequisitesthat ensureseffective mechanism of consumers’ protection from counterfeit are, in my view, introduction of hard and tangible counterfeit producer’sand distributor’s responsibility, as well as an effective mechanism of the state control.

There is no need in any amendments to existing laws or creating new laws to make this mechanism operate. All the necessary regulations have been already adopted, and the basic law is the Law of Ukraine “On Basic Principles and Requirements for Safety and Quality of Food Products”.

The main problem is creation of the proper conditions for the execution of the main rules of the Food Law and the will of the state. For example, the current edition of the Food Law clearly states that in case of violation of the requirements for labeling of a food product, say, if on the packaging of sour cream a producer forgot to write that there was a vegetable fat used as a component, the producer shall be fined in the amount from 5 to 8 minimum wages and/or removed improperly labeled products. The minimum wage in 2017 is UAH 3200. Thus, the fine for the violation will be varying from UAH16,000 to UAH25,000 and the product withdrawal will also be possible. Perhaps, for some businesses this will not be a significant amount to stop falsification. But if such products will be constantly withdrawn and the manufacturer penalized, it can make the proper effect and will be beneficial for the consumer. I would like to note that earlier the penalties provided for enterprise-offenders have been so small that they could hardly be counted as leverage. Now the value of fines is linked to the minimum wage andfines became more impressive, although those that had been initially proposed by the Law developers were much higher.

As to the state control – the work on the improvement of the system is ongoing. And again, we return to the issue of implementation of the norms of the new Food Law.

For example, quite a long time ago The State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service in collaboration with experts developed a procedure required by Law for implementation of the food enterprises operation inspections. The set of documents includes a list of requirements to the enterprise which supervisory authorities should use to carry out inspections. The list of check-points in this document comprises the requirements to be met by the enterprise. This document is public. Everyone can see what is subject to verification. This allows to eliminate the “amateurship” during inspections and the reasons for abuse. This document – the Inspection Report – was prepared for adoption long ago. Its adoption is critical, because without such a document The State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service does not have the right to carry out the routine checks of businesses on their compliance with food hygiene requirements.

But we cannot move on because of the approval delay in some agencies. This means we still cannot inspect food enterprises. Such tightening of the procedure looks pretty strange, because the list of items in the Report is not new andall the positions have already been approved by law. As a result of this delay the consumers are at risk, the same as the representatives of the departments who slow down the process.

Once this list of requirements is adopted,The State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service will be in force to start inspections of enterprises. In the meanwhile the inspection can be carried out only at the request of a particular customer, who has already suffered from some low quality products and now putshis claims against the manufacturer.

Improving our food legislation and control mechanisms are in progress, although it is not always easy.

In my opinion, with the situation that currently exists in our food industry, the real impact on consumer protection can be made not with amendments to existing laws or adoption of new laws (we have enough of them) but strengthening of the state’s position regarding the requirements to the existing laws execution. It seems to me that a strict, but understandable to both inspection bodies and the inspected enterprise inspected, procedures of inspection, as well as tangible punishment for violation of the requirements of the Food Law will improve the safety of food and protect us.