The Government of Canada ratified the Free Trade Agreement with Ukraine (CUFTA), which will come into force on August 1, 2017. What agrarian products have the greatest prospects in this market?

Under this Agreement, Canada cancels the import duties on most agrarian products, leaving them at a level of 100-200% for meat and dairy products. At the same time there will be quotas for imported poultry meat, dairy products and cheese, eggs and sugar from Ukraine.

Ukraine, for its part, cancels the import duties only for a number of products from Canada: fish and seafood, cereals, confectionery produts, chocolate and beverages: juices, beer, mineral water and wine, and also introduces a transitional period for cancellation of duties for 3, 5 and 7 years mainly on products of animal origin: meat, dairy products and eggs, as well as on honey, nuts, flour, sauces and cereals.

As for today, Ukraine imports nearly ten times more goods from Canada than exports. In 2016, the country imported goods amounting to USD 43.3 million, while Canada exported from Ukraine goods amounting to only USD 4.9 million.

The volume of trade is also rather insignificant - the share of agricultural products that exported to Canada in the structure of total agricultural export is 0.03%, while Canada's share in the total agrarian import of Ukraine is 1.1% (data for 2016).

The situation has changed a little in the current year: in January-April 2017, Ukraine imported agricultural products from Canada amounting to USD 9.2 million, which is 36% less than the same period last year. Instead, agricultural exports grew more than 5 times compared to January-April, 2016 and amounted to USD 3.8 million. The reason for this rise in export was the increase of juice supplies to USD 2,369 thous., while for the same period last year, this product was exported amounting to USD 6.5 thous.

"The signing of the FTA with Canada will facilitate the supply of products and the research of tastes of local consumers, which in turn will improve trade relations with the countries of North America", said Daria Grytsenko, analyst of agricultural markets of the Association "Ukrainian Agribusiness Club"

Along with an increase in the export of juices, there are prospects for increasing vegetable supplies: pepper and cabbage, sweet mineral water, as well as confectionery products (mainly wafers, biscuits and dietary bars). The aforementioned products have recently been in high demand in Canada. At present, the main export goods from Ukraine to Canada are honey, sunflower and soybean oil and oilseeds seeds.