The requirement of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to saturate food products with vitamins may cause difficulties for business, and therefore have negative consequences.
This is stated in the message of the European Business Association (EBA), Ukrainian News Agency reports.
According to the report, the draft resolution of the Ministry of Health on the order of fortification of food products plans to determine the consumption levels of certain food products to which vitamins and/or minerals can be added.
"The procedure for the fortification of food products, which is proposed to be approved, defines the grounds and procedure for the introduction of mandatory fortification of food products with individual vitamins and/or minerals. In addition, the draft order provides that the mandatory fortification of food products by market operators shall be introduced by the Cabinet of Ministers by issuing order in accordance with this Order. Therefore, it is assumed that fortification may become mandatory for all manufacturers," the message reads.
In turn, business representatives note that the introduction of food fortification will require serious investments in the modernization of production lines.
This could create significant financial difficulties for companies and the food industry, which are already suffering significant wartime losses.
"In connection with this, there is a risk that not all entities of the food industry will be able to modernize their production facilities to introduce product fortification, especially now, and so at a difficult time for business. Since this requires reformatting and changing equipment at factories, updating formulations, changing labels, etc. As a result, the impossibility of fulfilling the established requirements can lead to such negative consequences as the closure of enterprises, loss of jobs, losses for the industry and a reduction in the payment of taxes to the state budget," the message reads.
It can also cause an increase in product prices and affect the financial situation of the final consumer.
"Moreover, the introduction of mandatory fortification of some products produced on the territory of Ukraine can potentially lead to the loss of foreign markets where there is a demand for non-fortified products, as well as to an unreasonable financial burden not only on business entities, but also on consumers," the report says.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in August 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers banned the sale in Ukraine of imported food products and feed labeled in a non-state language.
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