On April 10, 2012 the Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine submitted the Draft Law of Ukraine "On the Newest Food Products" for public discussion. The Draft Law is intended to regulate the circulation of food products or their ingredients having no history of their safe use in Ukraine. According to the proposed draft law a newest food product is a food product or ingredient having no history of its safe use in Ukraine and meeting one of the following criteria:

  • it has been obtained by applying the process of raising animals and/or plants that is not used in Ukraine;
  • it has been produced by applying a production process, which had not previously been used in Ukraine for that type of products and / or ingredients and that could lead to significant / substantial changes in the composition and structure of food products or ingredients and would affect their customer value, human metabolism or the level of hazardous factors.

The Draft Law distinguishes between traditional and modern food products, thereby regulating their state registration and their introduction into circulation. The regulation of biologically active additives is changed individually. It should be noted that the Draft Law, if adopted, could extend to products derived from vegetable or animal raw materials produced by using methods not used in Ukraine – e.g. genetically modified varieties of crops or animals as well as products with the stability guaranteed due to the content of additional stabilizers that are not peculiar to those types of products. Examples of such products are soybeans, corn, sugar beets, wheat (currently no modified wheat is available on the world market, but its appearance is expected) as well as all fruits and vegetables with delayed ripening and extended shelf life (citrus, bananas, etc.)

The Draft Law provides that the respective law shall come into force within two years after its publication, suggesting that a special transition period will be given to importers of the newest food products.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.