FoodChain ID and CE-LAB Partner on Certification and Verification Project in Ukraine

FAIRFIELD, Iowa and KYIV, Ukraine – FoodChain ID, a provider of certification and technology across the food supply chain, and the Center of Excellence for Life Sciences, Agriculture and Bioingenuity (CE-LAB), an open-access innovation center supporting the Ukrainian agri-food economy, announced a partnership to certify that reclaimed land and water damaged by war and restored through phytoremediation, crater recultivation and field diagnostics are again suitable for agricultural use.

In addition, the partnership has established carbon traceability programs to validate and verify transitional regenerative farming practices to support the international credibility of Ukraine’s carbon and regenerative farming projects, FoodChain ID said. 

According to CE-LAB, an estimated 7.5 million hectares of Ukrainian land are mined or otherwise contaminated because of military operations, posing ongoing threats to farming and food security. Through the new certification and verification initiatives, the FoodChain ID-CE-LAB partnership will deliver an independent assurance framework to certify that remediated land and water are ready for agricultural use, FoodChain ID said. The certification will be based on documented clearance by authorized operators and defined environmental testing and audit criteria. The partnership will also provide laboratory and technology services to support traceable, credible verification of restoration and regenerative agriculture claims. 

“FoodChain ID is proud to partner with CE-LAB and bring our expertise in agri-food certification to return land and water to productivity, with the resulting contribution to the global food supply,” said Dr. Chetan Parmar, senior vice president of technical services for Europe and Asia.

Dr. Vitaliy Skotsyk, CE-LAB president and CEO, said, “Along with FoodChain ID, we are creating a full certification pathway for reclaimed soils, forests and water systems ‒ connecting environmental recovery with carbon markets, global trust and long-term economic regeneration.”

Partnership Highlights:

• Certification Scheme Development — An independent, ISO-based certification assurance for the remediation of war-contaminated soils and water. 
• Carbon Claims Verification — Methodologies, systems and experts to support credible and traceable claims based on FoodChain ID’s sustainability certification experience, the company said. 
• Agriculture Extension Services — Training for farmers, agronomists, auditors and local stakeholders, plus analytical laboratory and technology solutions, to develop local agriculture and food sectors.  

The partnership will start with Ukraine and expand to other agricultural regions.