Ukraine hammers its small farmers to comply with WTO

On 1 January 2015, Ukraine will enact the law banning the sales of home-slaughtered meat, as well as homemade milk and cheese, the Capital reports.

Ukraine has to ban the sales of home meat, milk and curds to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In 2013, Ukraine's Ministry for Agrarian Policy wanted to postpone the law for five years, till 2020, to obtain time to equip special slaughter houses.

The revolution in Ukraine did not let the plans materialize. The new rulers of Ukraine apparently decided not to engage in such matters.

According to the head of the All-Ukrainian Agricultural Council, Denis Marchuk, the adoption of the law will put villagers on the brink of survival.

"The imposition of the ban without a transition period will affect the work of small farms that produce about 30 percent of meat and 75 percent of milk of the total amount of these products. For many villagers, cattle farming is the only source of income," he said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said that Ukraine was ranked first in Europe in terms of the agricultural potential.

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