G/SPS/GEN/2040  
 
24 June 2022  
(22-4888) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
 
AGENDA ITEM 3A  – INFORMATION SHARING –  
INFORMATION FROM MEMBERS ON RELEVANT ACTIVITIES  
SUBMISSION  BY UKRAINE  
The following submission, received on 23 June  2022, is the statement made by U kraine  at the 
22-24 June 2022 WTO SPS Committee, and is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of 
Ukraine . 
 
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1.  Ukraine would like to use this opportunity to inform the WTO Members on relevant developments 
and activities in the sphere of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) measures.  
2.  As Members are well aware, the war launched by the Russian Federation on Ukraine has caused 
immense suffering and destruction. The infrastructure of the State Food and Consumer Service of 
Ukraine, along with its insti tutions and laboratories have been damaged, destroyed and looted. 
Many  employees are forced to work in extremely harsh circumstances on the territories where 
military actions are taking place.  
3.  Against this backdrop, the competent bodies of Ukraine in the s phere of SPS measures continue 
to diligently fulfil their professional obligations to ensure food safety, protect animals ' health and 
welfare, maintain necessary sanitary and phytosanitary security. Ukraine takes all practicable 
measures in accordance with  the relevant international treaties and Ukraine 's membership in 
international organizations to ensure global food safety.  
4.  In particular, in the plant quarantine and plant protection field, Ukraine has simplified 
SPS measures and procedures, and introduced  the mechanism of phytosanitary procedures by 
territorial bodies of the State Food and Consumer Service on the principle of extraterritoriality. 
Today  100% of phytosanitary procedures are carried out by means of PHIS and LIMS information 
systems that allow  competent bodies to reduce time for processing and issuance of phytosanitary 
certificates. Since the enactment of the martial law in February 2022, 77,000 phytosanitary 
certificates have been issued by the state phytosanitary inspectors. This has ensured the export of 
almost 2.37 million tons of Ukrainian grain. In addition, up to 0.5 million tons of imported plant 
products, including vegetables, fruits, cereals, flour, planting material and other goods have been 
phytosanitary inspected within the past thr ee months.  
5.  To ensure compliance with international treaties and to establish the phytosanitary quality of 
Ukrainian soil, appropriate monitoring and survey continue. During the spring inspections, state 
phytosanitary inspectors of Ukraine surveyed an area of 0.6 million hectares.  
6.  In order to prevent the spread of low -quality seeds and planting material, more than 19 tons of 
low-quality seeds and 403.5 thousand units of planting material, which could not have been used 
for sowing and other purposes, were withdrawn from the market and destroyed under the 
supervision of the State Food and Consumer Service.  
7.  To date, state phytosanitary inspectors and state phytosanitary laboratories continue to work for 
the benefit of Ukraine despite extreme conditions. Let m e give you one example of the sense of 
courage and responsibility of Ukrainian authorities. The Chief Office of the State Food and Consumer 
Service in the Kharkiv region did not stop its work for a single minute despite constant shelling from G/SPS/GEN/2040  
 
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  the first day  of the invasion and while around 25% of region has been under the temporary Russian 
occupation. Similarly, same dedication was shown by authorities in Zaporizhzhya region, part of 
which is now under temporary occupation and constant shelling by Russian tr oops.  
8.  Since the beginning of the Russian military invasion, the State Food and Consumer Service of 
Ukraine and its territorial bodies have also been doing everything possible to control and ensure the 
epizootic situation in Ukraine. Thus, where possible, r outine vaccinations are being carried out. 
In case of animal diseases, necessary measures are taken to eliminate them in accordance with 
current instructions; necessary follow -up with preventive measures is ensured.  
9.  In this regard, we would like to thank t he European Union and its member States, namely Poland, 
Germany, France, Lithuania, Latvia, Italy, the Czech Republic, as well as the United Kingdom , 
Switzerland, Canada, United States of America , Japan, Georgia, and all of our partners for their 
valuable assistance to the livestock industry and support of pets by providing free feed and 
veterinary drugs.  
10.  As a result of the Russian shelling of civilian infrastructure facilities, destruction of logistical 
links, and disruption of civilian supplies, including  livestock, poultry and zoo facilities, there is a 
critical supply situation and a direct threat to Ukrainian livestock and household farms. Large pig 
and livestock complexes are located on the territories of active hostilities and their list is constantly  
growing. On the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine animals do not receive food and are 
restricted in receiving timely veterinary care. On the territories already liberated from the Russian 
troops, Ukrainian authorities record numerous dead and wo unded animals that were left behind.  
11.  We would like to emphasize that conducting state veterinary and sanitary inspection and control 
on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is impossible.  
12.  At present, assistance is urgently needed to restore the full functioning of several institutions 
of the State Food and Consumer Service of Ukraine. In particular, Ukraine is seeking assistance to 
replace destroyed veterinary and phytosanitary laboratories. We will be grateful to WTO  Members 
for all possible ass istance in this regard and are ready to provide detailed information on the most 
urgent needs.  
13.  In order to improve the efficiency of anti -epizootic measures, Ukraine has established a legal 
framework to ensure a stable epizootic situation and to create app ropriate conditions for exports 
and imports of livestock products. In this regard, several Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of 
Ukraine have been adopted, namely related to procedures for state registration of livestock facilities 
and market operator s, as well as for the establishment of the livestock farms for the purposes of 
exporting, importing, and carrying out high -risk activities. The abovementioned Resolutions were 
notified to the WTO as per Ukraine 's obligations.  
14.  In addition, the Government al so approved the rules of state veterinary and sanitary control 
that regulate the procedure of state control over compliance with the legislation on food, feed, animal 
by-products, veterinary medicine and animal welfare, and features of their application in  Ukraine 
during martial law. These rules were also notified to the WTO.  
15.  Regarding export of Ukrainian products, we are grateful for the high level of trust to Ukrainian 
agriculture products and measures taken to resume Ukraine 's ability to produce, trade a nd export 
of agricultural products. As Ukrainian seaports remained blocked, today the only possibility of 
exporting products of animal and plant origin to third countries is transit through the EU countries. 
Ukraine would welcome further liberalization of the SPS measures in trade with Ukraine and would 
ensure the implementation of all appropriate measures in full.  
16.  Finally, in the context of  the unravelling global food crisis provoked by Russia 's war against 
Ukraine, we note that Russia 's proposals to estab lish humanitarian corridors for exporting Ukrainian 
grain from the seaports in exchange for lifting the sanctions demonstrates Kremlin 's intention to 
blackmail the world by using the threat of hunger as a weapon, while attempting to arise from the 
self-inflicted catastrophe as a savio ur of the world. All this, while Russian occupiers continue stealing 
grain from Ukrainian territory and attempting to sell it illegally as their own on international markets.  G/SPS/GEN/2040  
 
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  17.  Such actions would require issuance of illegal phyto sanitary certificates, and we would like to 
apprise the WTO Members of possible risks such transactions bear. In particular, absence of 
legitimate certificates could indicate non -compliance of products with current phytosanitary 
requirements, quality and s afety standards, presence of contamination of products by various 
quarantine pests, be evidence of illegal trade in products and their non -compliance with terms of 
foreign trade contract. Moreover, it is a violation of existing legislation and direct crimi nal liability.  
18.  The Russian Federation is tampering with relevant certificates in breach of appropriate official 
procedures for inspection, testing, phytosanitary examination (analysis) to ensure safety of products 
and their compliance with phytosanitary re quirements. Such activities of Russia undermine 
fundamental principles of international trade, as well as the principles of traceability of trade in goods 
covered by the SPS Agreement . Ukraine calls on all states to stay vigilant and refrain from buying 
grain from the Russia Federation if there is no certainty about its origin.  
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