The European Union is updating its rules for importing products of animal origin, requiring Ukrainian exporters to review their production processes, traceability systems and export documentation, Ukraine’s State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection (Derzhprodspozhyvsluzhba) reports.
On 23 July 2026, EU Delegated Regulation 2026/1052 was published, amending the rules for bringing animals, germinal products and products of animal origin from third countries into the EU. For Ukraine’s dairy sector, the most important changes concern the requirements for dairy products.
Updated rules for dairy products
The regulation revises the requirements for producing dairy products depending on the type of milk and how it is treated. If a product is made from a mixture of milk from different animal species, the strictest processing requirements will apply. In particular:
- dairy products made from raw milk, and from other dairy products previously made from raw milk, are admitted to the EU under the general rules for treating products of animal origin;
- two main categories of dairy products are distinguished for treatment: category A — from cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo and dromedary camels; and category B — all other species (to which stricter rules apply);
- rules are set for treating products from different types of milk: if treatment occurs before mixing, it is carried out separately for each type; if after, the strictest regime for any animal milk in the mixture applies.
What exporters should do
Derzhprodspozhyvsluzhba advises Ukrainian market operators to assess their facilities’ compliance with the new requirements now, check traceability systems, update internal control procedures and, if needed, coordinate the issuance of veterinary certificates with the service’s territorial bodies.
The regulation also updates animal identification rules and sets new conditions for importing several other categories of products of animal origin.
Source: Derzhprodspozhyvsluzhba (State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection)
