Government approves list of products to be surveyed at the border

26/ 10/ 2018

The government has approved clear controls to be carried out when checking goods at customs. This week, the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Some issues of carrying out measures of official control of goods imported into the customs territory of Ukraine (including for the purpose of transit) was adopted. This resolution clearly defines the list of goods that must pass phytosanitary (vegetables, fruits, coffee, etc.), veterinary and sanitary control (live cattle, veterinary medicine etc.), and which - the state control of food products (fish, eggs, meet, honey, etc. However, products that have short expiry dates such as dairy products, fish, and meat should be checked at the border more often. Alcohol, coffee, and oil have no elements of animal origin so their checks should be made by checking documentation accompanying each batch. We hope that in order to set up this process, the Ministry of Justice will accelerate the registration of the Order of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy regarding the frequency of control. The business community favors the efficient use of both business resources and state resources. Additional border checks and long waiting times on the border do not support either objective. We expect that the Resolution will provide a simplified procedure for customs control through document checking, but without requiring documents that are not needed in the European Union and in the world. It is also important that after the adoption of this regulation, customs control will be carried out for a clear list of products - and not for all goods. In addition, the business community expresses the expectation that the corresponding letter from the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Customer Protection, according to which all goods are now subject to veterinary and sanitary control, will be repealed because business does not share the position outlined in the text of the letter. It is worthwhile to finally settle the work of the “single window”. After all, the key idea was precisely to optimize control procedures but not to add complications.

The government has approved clear controls to be carried out when checking goods at customs. This week, the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on “Some issues of carrying out measures of official control of goods imported into the customs territory of Ukraine (including for the purpose of transit)” was adopted.

This resolution clearly defines the list of goods that must pass phytosanitary (vegetables, fruits, coffee, etc.), veterinary and sanitary control (live cattle, veterinary medicine etc.), and which – the state control of food products (fish, eggs, meet, honey, etc. However, products that have short expiry dates such as dairy products, fish, and meat should be checked at the border more often. Alcohol, coffee, and oil have no elements of animal origin so their checks should be made by checking documentation accompanying each batch. We hope that in order to set up this process, the Ministry of Justice will accelerate the registration of the Order of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy regarding the frequency of control.

The business community favors the efficient use of both business resources and state resources. Additional border checks and long waiting times on the border do not support either objective. We expect that the Resolution will provide a simplified procedure for customs control through document checking, but without requiring documents that are not needed in the European Union and in the world.

It is also important that after the adoption of this regulation, customs control will be carried out for a clear list of products – and not for all goods.

In addition, the business community expresses the expectation that the corresponding letter from the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Customer Protection, according to which all goods are now subject to veterinary and sanitary control, will be repealed because business does not share the position outlined in the text of the letter.

It is worthwhile to finally settle the work of the “single window”. After all, the key idea was precisely to optimize control procedures but not to add complications.