Ukraine and Canada have signed off on new export certificates that will allow exports of live Canadian hogs and, for the first time, Canadian swine genetics.

The new certificate for live hogs "has been negotiated by the two countries to address Ukraine’s recently revised import requirements," the Canadian government said in a release Thursday.

"This access will create an opportunity for Canadian exporters of high-quality Canadian purebred swine to take a share of the Ukrainian market."

Ukraine’s current total imports of live purebred swine are now valued at about C$4.5 million per year, the government said.

Ukraine had previously blocked imports of live hogs from Canada and several other countries in 2009, during a period of what some described as near-panic in Ukraine over the H1N1 strain of influenza A.

A federal agriculture department spokesperson said Canada submitted a new certificate for Ukraine’s approval in April, after Ukraine changed its import requirements in February this year.

The agreements on live hogs and genetics followed talks last week between Canadian and Ukrainian officials in Paris during a meeting of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), at which "export conditions for many products" were discussed, the government said.

Canada, which is also in talks toward a free trade agreement with Ukraine, exported over $22 million worth of agriculture and food products to that country in 2011.

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