Another Wave of Hazardous Fake Agrochemicals to Flood Ukraine

The European Business Association is very much concerned about and is drawing attention of the Ukrainian Governemnt to the current situation with counterfeit pesticides and agrochemicals in Ukraine. The volume and frequency of fake pesticides and agrochemicals circulating in Ukraine keeps growing each year. Thus, the current market of fake plant protection products in Ukraine is estimated by the EBA Agrochemical Committee experts to amount to about $150 mln. Moreover, this phenomenon affects the reputation of high quality original agrochemical products.

The most recent case occurred in Kherson on 17 May 2011, where the Ministry of Internal Affairs revealed a warehouse belonging to TOV AgroDeltaGroup (located at: Chornobayivka Village, Kherson oblast, 152nd km of Kherson-Odessa Highway) and initiated criminal investigation No.10-26040 on the grounds of violation of IPRs to an invention through offering for sale and actual sale of herbicides containing patent-protected active ingredients.

The EBA Agrochemical Committee is grateful to the investigating officers of Shevchenkivskiy District Office of the Main Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kyiv for their competent actions and prompt reaction.

The international community being extremely concerned with the lack of efficient actions and progress in investigations of similar cases in Cherkassy, Bila Tserkva and Uzin is warning distributors, farmers and growers of agricultural products as well as law enforcement bodies about a potentially dangerous export of of produce from UA being treated with illegal pesticides.

The revealed cases of using fake agrochemicals prove an evident danger for the export of national produce and, as a result, a risk of substantial reduction in an expected inflow of investments into the agricultural sector of the country.

Taking into account high social danger and high level of hazard for human health and the environment inherent to fake products spreading across the country, the European Business Association is asking the Ukrainian government and law enforcement bodies to take immediate, adequate and joint actions aimed at preventing the spreading of the counterfeit agrochemicals from Talne, Bila Tserkva, Uzin and Kherson throughout the country. Besides, it is crucial to secure transparency of the four cases, grant access to the warehouses and undertake prompt destruction of the discovered counterfeits in the presence of international experts. In the future, all sensible measures need to be taken to prevent the risk of the fake plant protection products crossing the border and getting into civil circulation inside the country.

For additional comments please contact Maria Savchenko
EBA PR and communications manager by telephone:
+38 (044) 496-06-01, +38 (067) 215-81-95, or by e-mail: maria.savchenko@eba.com.ua.

INFORMATION:

European Business Association (EBA) - the premier organisation for foreign business in Ukraine - brings together over 800 European, Ukrainian and international companies. The EBA was established in 1999 as a forum for discussion and resolution of problems facing the private sector in Ukraine. This initiative of business people was supported by the European Commission. Being a non-profit Association of legal entities, the EBA sees its core mission as representing the interests of European and domestic investors in Ukraine, and improving the investment climate has been the EBA's major concern since the moment it was founded.

The priority tasks of the EBA in 2011 are: reducing obstacles for investment, support for different instruments promoting economic integration with the EU and facilitating positioning of Ukraine as a country attractive for investment and business partnership.

The EBA Agrochemical Committee was established in 2001 and has been a member of the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) since January 2004. The Committee brings together representatives of 9 agrochemical companies working in Ukraine. Committee's Priorities for 2011 include: support of the Ukrainian state authorities in developing and piloting a CMS Concept for Ukraine; continuing discussions with relevant Ukrainian state authorities on proposed amendments to regulations in the pesticides and agrochemicals sector in order to make the registration system more transparent and ensure protection of IP rights in the sector as well as improving ACF legislation; implementation of Agrochemical Committee's Anti-Counterfeit Campaign (Focused on Stopping the Import of Fake Products as well as Raising Awareness Among End-users, Framers and Growers).

Источник: The European Business Association (EBA) | Прочитать на источнике