E-Commerce will be further developed in Ukraine

08/ 07/ 2021

On July 8, the European Business Association held a round table on the need for legislative changes in the field of consumer protection and e-commerce together with representatives of the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection. The meeting was primarily focused on the Draft Law on Consumer Protection which has been under development for a long time. Currently, this draft in a new edition, with amendments proposed by the EBA, is being prepared for consideration by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (within 1-2 weeks). The business community is looking forward to the publication of the updated text for its further elaboration. Besides, the participants of the meeting touched upon the issue of draft Law №4185 (on electronic warranty obligations), which was unexpectedly adopted as a whole (and not just in the first reading). Despite the support of the EBA, there are still some aspects that can be improved in the current text (for example: to provide the consumer with access to operating documents in electronic form on external media, in the built-in memory of the product, etc.). Representatives of the Ministry of Economy assured that the possibility of implementing additional, appropriate changes will be provided later in bylaws or under the new Law on Consumer Protection. As for the draft law on e-commerce, now, according to the Ministry of Finance, the draft is being finalized and will soon be covered in a wider field. It is expected that with the help of this Law, consumer awareness will rise, as more information about goods, sellers, etc. will be posted on marketplaces. Besides, it was noted that the registration of e-commerce entities will be mandatory for all entrepreneurs, not just those who trade in excisable goods. The question of the platform on which these innovations will operate remains open. As for deadlines, they are not very comforting at the moment: these innovations are expected to be adopted by the end of 2023, but we very much hope to speed up this process. In addition, representatives of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection noted that previously about 95% of all received consumer complaints were related to the lack of communication from commercial entities. For our part, the EBA is confident that the above-mentioned draft laws will be able to resolve this situation to protect consumer rights. On the whole, the EBA fully supports such digital changes to the paperless (or as they say in the EU - digital first) format to maximally transform and optimize existing processes. We are sincerely grateful to the representatives of state bodies for their openness and readiness for dialogue. We look forward to the release of already updated texts of draft laws to continue the joint work on them. For reference Among the participants of the meeting were: Dmytro Romanovych, Co-Chair of the EBA Regulatory Committee for Permitting System and Consumer Protection; Associate Director, Consulting, Government Relations, and International Development Assistance Services at KPMG Ukraine; Vladyslava Mahaletska, Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection; Kyianychenko Serhii, Director, Department of Consumer Protection; Vovniuk Anatolii, Deputy Head for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitization, State Tax Service; Hrynchuk Tetiana, Head of the Department for Reforming the System of State Control and Consumer Protection of the Ministry of Economy. Ivanov Denys, Head of the Expert Group for Implementation, Support and Monitoring of the Quality of Electronic Services Provision, Directorate for Electronic Services Development Havryliuk Kristina, Chief Specialist of the Expert Group for E-Commerce and Business Development, Digital Economy Directorate Osinska Olha, Chief Specialist of the Expert Group for E-Commerce and Business Development, Digital Economy Directorate

The meeting was primarily focused on the Draft Law on Consumer Protection which has been under development for a long time. Currently, this draft in a new edition, with amendments proposed by the EBA, is being prepared for consideration by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (within 1-2 weeks). The business community is looking forward to the publication of the updated text for its further elaboration.

Besides, the participants of the meeting touched upon the issue of draft Law №4185 (on electronic warranty obligations), which was unexpectedly adopted as a whole (and not just in the first reading). Despite the support of the EBA, there are still some aspects that can be improved in the current text (for example: to provide the consumer with access to operating documents in electronic form on external media, in the built-in memory of the product, etc.). Representatives of the Ministry of Economy assured that the possibility of implementing additional, appropriate changes will be provided later in bylaws or under the new Law on Consumer Protection.

As for the draft law on e-commerce, now, according to the Ministry of Finance, the draft is being finalized and will soon be covered in a wider field. It is expected that with the help of this Law, consumer awareness will rise, as more information about goods, sellers, etc. will be posted on marketplaces. Besides, it was noted that the registration of e-commerce entities will be mandatory for all entrepreneurs, not just those who trade in excisable goods. The question of the platform on which these innovations will operate remains open. As for deadlines, they are not very comforting at the moment: these innovations are expected to be adopted by the end of 2023, but we very much hope to speed up this process.

In addition, representatives of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection noted that previously about 95% of all received consumer complaints were related to the lack of communication from commercial entities. For our part, the EBA is confident that the above-mentioned draft laws will be able to resolve this situation to protect consumer rights.

On the whole, the EBA fully supports such digital changes to the paperless (or as they say in the EU – digital first) format to maximally transform and optimize existing processes. We are sincerely grateful to the representatives of state bodies for their openness and readiness for dialogue. We look forward to the release of already updated texts of draft laws to continue the joint work on them.

For reference

Among the participants of the meeting were:

Dmytro Romanovych, Co-Chair of the EBA Regulatory Committee for Permitting System and Consumer Protection; Associate Director, Consulting, Government Relations, and International Development Assistance Services at KPMG Ukraine;

Vladyslava Mahaletska, Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection;

Kyianychenko Serhii, Director, Department of Consumer Protection;

Vovniuk Anatolii, Deputy Head for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitization, State Tax Service;

Hrynchuk Tetiana, Head of the Department for Reforming the System of State Control and Consumer Protection of the Ministry of Economy.

Ivanov Denys, Head of the Expert Group for Implementation, Support and Monitoring of the Quality of Electronic Services Provision, Directorate for Electronic Services Development

Havryliuk Kristina, Chief Specialist of the Expert Group for E-Commerce and Business Development, Digital Economy Directorate

Osinska Olha, Chief Specialist of the Expert Group for E-Commerce and Business Development, Digital Economy Directorate