Ukraine has fulfilled its obligations for the conclusion of the ACAA Agreement

09/ 10/ 2020

There was recently the EU-Ukraine Summit held in Brussels with the participation of senior political leaders of respective parties, including the President of Ukraine – Mr. Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of the European Council – Mr. Charles Michel, and the Vice President of the European Commission – Mr. Josep Borrell. During the Summit, the parties reaffirmed their policy of strengthening political association and economic integration between Ukraine and the European Union on the basis of the Association Agreement and stressed the need to continue close cooperation to strengthen the rule of law, promote reforms, foster sustainable economic growth and support environmental and digital transformations. During the Summit, there was a discussion with a special focus on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU introduced in January 2016 and contributed to an increase in bilateral trade flows by approximately 65%, as noted in the Joint Statement following the Summit. Another important issue for the business was also discussed during the Summit. Thus, it was announced about the beginning of a preliminary assessment of Ukraines readiness to conclude an Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Goods (ACAA) or the so-called industrial visa-free regime”. The signing of this Agreement will allow Ukrainian goods to be exported freely to the EU and vice versa without undergoing additional conformity assessment procedures. This will remove existing barriers and significantly save time and resources of the business on unnecessary procedures. . . The adoption of the ACAA Agreement will give a tangible impetus to the development of trade with the EU and stimulate the growth of Ukrainian exports. We were pleased to provide our expertise in the development and adaptation of Ukrainian technical regulations to the practices and norms of the EU, which brought us closer to signing the Agreement. Now the ball is in the court of our European colleagues, so we hope that the industrial visa-free regime for business will be adopted soon. That is why the European Business Association has consistently supported the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities aimed at fulfilling the so-called homework or harmonization of Ukrainian legislation in accordance with EU directives. For example, the business community was actively involved in the development and adoption of technical regulations required for the signing of the ACAA in the first three priority areas (machine safety, low-voltage equipment, electromagnetic compatibility), as well as in the adoption of amendments to horizontal framework legislation, including laws on technical regulations and conformity assessment, on state market supervision and control of non-food products, etc. In fact, Ukraine has completed its homework.with the adoption of the last requirement at the end of 2019. Therefore, we hope that the preliminary assessment of Ukraines readiness to conclude the ACAA Agreement will yield positive results, which will finally enable the introduction of a mutual visa-free regime for industrial goods in the first three priority areas. At the same time, it is important for the business to expand the ACAA Agreement to new sectors, such as radio equipment, environmental design, medical devices, and more. Be the first to learn about the latest EBA news with our Telegram-channel – EBAUkraine.

During the Summit, the parties reaffirmed their policy of strengthening political association and economic integration between Ukraine and the European Union on the basis of the Association Agreement and stressed the need to continue close cooperation to strengthen the rule of law, promote reforms, foster sustainable economic growth and support environmental and digital transformations.

During the Summit, there was a discussion with a special focus on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU introduced in January 2016 and contributed to an increase in bilateral trade flows by approximately 65%, as noted in the Joint Statement following the Summit.

Another important issue for the business was also discussed during the Summit. Thus, it was announced about the beginning of a preliminary assessment of Ukraine’s readiness to conclude an Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Goods (ACAA) or the so-called “industrial visa-free regime”. The signing of this Agreement will allow Ukrainian goods to be exported freely to the EU and vice versa without undergoing additional conformity assessment procedures. This will remove existing barriers and significantly save time and resources of the business on unnecessary procedures.

The adoption of the ACAA Agreement will give a tangible impetus to the development of trade with the EU and stimulate the growth of Ukrainian exports. We were pleased to provide our expertise in the development and adaptation of Ukrainian technical regulations to the practices and norms of the EU, which brought us closer to signing the Agreement. Now the ball is in the court of our European colleagues, so we hope that the industrial visa-free regime for business will be adopted soon.

That is why the European Business Association has consistently supported the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities aimed at fulfilling the so-called “homework” or harmonization of Ukrainian legislation in accordance with EU directives. For example, the business community was actively involved in the development and adoption of technical regulations required for the signing of the ACAA in the first three priority areas (machine safety, low-voltage equipment, electromagnetic compatibility), as well as in the adoption of amendments to horizontal framework legislation, including laws on technical regulations and conformity assessment, on state market supervision and control of non-food products, etc. In fact, Ukraine has completed its “homework”.with the adoption of the last requirement at the end of 2019.

Therefore, we hope that the preliminary assessment of Ukraine’s readiness to conclude the ACAA Agreement will yield positive results, which will finally enable the introduction of a mutual “visa-free regime” for industrial goods in the first three priority areas. At the same time, it is important for the business to expand the ACAA Agreement to new sectors, such as radio equipment, environmental design, medical devices, and more.

Be the first to learn about the latest EBA news with our Telegram-channel – EBAUkraine.