Ukrainian governemnt adopts laws on “customs visa-free regime” starting October 1

On September 27, the Cabinet of Ministers approved resolutions that will allow Ukraine to join the Conventions on the common transit procedure

It was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Finance.

It should be noted that the joint transit procedure simplifies formalities in trade in goods, in other words, a "customs visa-free regime."

As reported by the department, decisions regarding the possibility of using authorizations and simplifications for an unlimited range of Ukrainian businesses have been approved.

The government approved the forms of documents and settled the issue of assessing the company's compliance with the criteria for granting authorizations, etc., according to the requirements of a "visa-free regime."

The business receives tools to use the advantages and simplifications of the common transit procedure in the 35 member countries of the Convention.

Until now, only a limited number of enterprises had access to simplifications.

In addition, a list of goods that can be transported through the customs territory of Ukraine without providing the Customs with security for the payment of customs fees for the duration of martial law and one year after its termination is defined.

The list was created considering the goods needed for the country's defense capability.

For the approved list, there will be a transition period from October 1, 2022, to February 1, 2023, during which a business-as-usual approach will apply to determining the goods that will be subject to security for the payment of customs fees.

The government also made changes to the issues of application of customs declarations.

Regulation of the form of customs declarations has been taken over from the Cabinet of Ministers because the form of a single document will be based on the terms of the Convention, and the requirements for the preparation and use of customs declarations have been brought into line with the legislation.

In addition, the government recognized as invalid the resolution dated August 5, 2020, regarding the use of certain types of customs declarations.

We will remind that the joint committee of Conventions on Common Transit (NCTS) and Simplification of Formalities on Thursday made an official decision to invite Ukraine to join them from October 1, 2022.

A "customs visa-free regime" means faster movement of goods between the countries of the European region, less bureaucracy at the customs itself, fewer opportunities for abuse, exchange of data with neighboring customs offices in real-time," the Ukrainian Prime Minister explains.

He reminded that this is the fourth "visa-free regime" for Ukraine in 2022, after the "energy" in March and the "transport" and "economic" visa-free regimes provided in the summer.

The Verkhovna Rada supported the law, which introduced the necessary changes for concluding a "customs visa-free regime" with the European Union.