The adoption of the law stems from the need to bring Ukraine’s organic products market into compliance with European standards, as well as to ensure its transparency and clarity for domestic consumers. “The main objective of the law is to establish clear and uniform requirements for the production, cultivation, and labeling of organic products in order to ensure the accuracy of information for consumers and to guarantee that the ‘organic’ label corresponds to the actual characteristics of such products,” – writes SEEDS, citing the country’s parliamentary press service.
In particular, the new law completely prohibits the unfounded use of the term “organic.” The main goal of the changes is to protect consumers from fake “organic” products and pseudo-environmental slogans.
Does Moldova Need a Delay?
A similar problem exists in Moldova, but it is still in the legislative process.
As Logos Press previously reported, the civil society organization “Alliance of the Value Chain in Organic Agriculture of Moldova”/“Alianța Lanțului Valoric în Agricultura Ecologică din Moldova” (MOVCA), does not support the “softening” amendment to Law No. 237/2023 on organic production and the labeling of organic products. This amendment provides for an extension until July 1, 2027, allowing economic operators to use existing stocks of food packaging that is not officially certified as organic but contains information (such as the names of companies and products with the prefixes “organic,” “bio,” etc.) that refer to organic agricultural production.
From MOVCA’s perspective, the current law “established a clear transition period…, and the time frame between 2023 and 2026 was more than sufficient for economic agents to use up their packaging stocks and, if necessary, change the names of their companies.”
Two curious facts that may simply be a coincidence. The first is that the agricultural enterprise owned by the current Minister of Agriculture and Food, MAIA’s Lyudmila Katlabuga, is named “Vita-Biofarm” SRL. Second, Tatiana Nistorica, the MAIA State Secretary who was detained on suspicion of corruption, previously served as director of the MOVCA association.
