Representatives of UCAB took part in the round table held on October 7 in Den Bosch, the Netherlands. The event was organized with the participation of Ukrainian and Dutch agrarian organizations and associations under the auspices of the Netherlands Agricultural and Horticultural Association (LTO) and the and Public Union “Ukrainian National Agrarian Forum”, and moderated by the 1st Honorary Consul of Ukraine to the Netherlands Karel Burger Dirven.

The meeting participants discussed a wide range of issues, including the development of Ukraine's agricultural sector, trade in agricultural products between Ukraine and the EU, Ukraine's future EU membership and the new common agricultural policy (CAP). Special attention was paid to the challenges and issues of cooperation between Ukraine and the Netherlands in the context of the current and future trade regimes between Ukraine and the EU.

During the event, the Ukrainian side presented the work of the agricultural sector of Ukraine and the sectors of poultry, milk production and organic production. During the discussion, progress in the implementation of European legislation in terms of norms and standards of production was presented. Further trade liberalization and compliance with EU labour standards were also among the main topics.

According to Oleksandra Avramenko, Head of the European Integration Committee of the UCAB, in the Netherlands, competitiveness and maximum production efficiency are the driving forces behind the country's economic development: “These approaches resonate maximally with the Ukrainian agricultural sector, because it is only thanks to efficiency and endurance that the domestic agro-industrial complex continues to exist even despite the war. We jointly support open trade, so we should move towards a compromise on the protection of European producers and conditions for access of Ukrainian products to the EU market”.

For his part, Head of the UCAB EU office Nazar Bobitski noted that the Netherlands is a natural partner of the Ukrainian agricultural sector as one of the leading consumers of key agro-import items from Ukraine: cereals, vegetable proteins for livestock feed, poultry meat, as well as organic agro-products. “The Netherlands' powerful agro-processing sector and export-oriented economy need free access to these and other Ukrainian products. At the same time, there are clearly articulated concerns of Dutch farmers about competition with Ukrainian products, which need to be talked about, separating myths from facts. These are the tasks pursued by Ukrainian agro-associations, establishing a dialog with Dutch colleagues, and UCAB is happy to join and contribute to such a dialog,” - concluded the expert.

UCAB expresses its sincere gratitude for the invitation to the event and looks forward to further active cooperation to promote mutually beneficial development of the agricultural sector of both countries.