About Us - GQSP Ukraine

The GQSP Ukraine project

The Global Quality and Standards Program (GQSP) in Ukraine is strengthening the country’s berry and nut sector by improving market access, enhancing competitiveness, and supporting export growth.

Since 2018, it has facilitated significant progress in bringing Ukrainian products into compliance with international requirements, ensuring deeper integration into regional and global markets, and contributing to economic recovery.

The GQSP in Ukraine delivers impact through a comprehensive approach built on three interconnected pillars:

Strengthening the national quality infrastructure system to ensure reliability and consistency
Empowering businesses to meet international market requirements and expand exports
Promoting the development of a nationwide culture of quality to support long-term competitiveness

This intervention in Ukraine is part of the second phase of the GQSP (2022–2027)—a large-scale global initiative being implemented in eleven countries worldwide, aimed at promoting structured trade in specific value chains while fostering social, environmental, and economic sustainability.

The Global Quality and Standards Program (GQSP)

The Global Quality and Standards Program (GQSP) is a global initiative implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) with financial support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The program supports developing countries and countries with economies in transition in strengthening their quality infrastructure systems and improving compliance with international standards and market requirements.

The main objective of the GQSP is to enhance the competitiveness of enterprises, promote international trade, and foster sustainable and inclusive economic growth by improving systems for quality, standardization, accreditation, conformity assessment, and metrology.

The program focuses on strengthening national capacity to ensure that products and services meet international quality and safety requirements, enabling enterprises to access regional and global markets more effectively.

GQSP Country Projects

Phase 1. Woodworking Sector (2019–2025)

National Partner: Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine 

Donor: Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) 

Implementing Partner: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) 

Duration: 2019–2025

Target sector: woodworking, with a focus on children’s furniture and wooden windows 

Main partners:

key quality infrastructure institutions and industry associations, including

— National Standards Body (UAS)

— National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU)

— Conformity assessment bodies: the regional testing center “BM-TEST” and the Kryvyi Rih branch of the State Enterprise “Dniprostandartmetrologiya”

— Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH)

— Agency for the Promotion of Sustainable Development in the Carpathian Region (“FORZA”)

— Ukrainian Association of Window Systems (UAWS)

— Association of Window and Facade Market Participants 

— Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers (UAM).

The project facilitated market access for Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises by improving the quality of services and the export potential of the woodworking sector, with a particular focus on processed wood products such as wooden windows and children’s furniture.

The GQSP Project:

Strengthened national quality infrastructure institutions, enabling them to provide vital services such as product testing, certification, and accreditation to ultimately ensure the quality of wood products, including windows and furniture.
It strengthened companies’ compliance capabilities, which helped Ukrainian woodworking enterprises meet international standards and gain access to new export markets.
It enhanced the culture of quality and raised national awareness of the role of quality and standards in producing reliable, safe, and sustainable products.

Phase 2. Berries and Nuts Sector (2023–2027)

National Partner: Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture 

Implementing Partner: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) 

Donor: State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO, Switzerland) 

Duration: 4 years (2023–2027) 

Sectors: berries and nuts sector 

GQSP Ukraine strengthens the country’s berries and nuts sector by improving market access, enhancing competitiveness, and supporting export growth. Since 2018, it has facilitated significant progress in bringing Ukrainian products into compliance with international requirements, ensuring deeper integration into regional and global markets, and contributing to economic recovery.

GQSP Ukraine delivers impact through a comprehensive approach built on three interconnected pillars:

Strengthening the national quality infrastructure system to ensure reliability and consistency
Enabling businesses to meet international market requirements and expand exports
Promoting the development of a nationwide culture of quality to support long-term competitiveness