President signs laws on accession to two conventions within ‘customs visa-free regime’

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed two laws on accession to conventions within the framework of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement which the Verkhovna Rada adopted at its meeting on August 30.

“Today, the Verkhovna Rada worked quite effectively and, in particular, passed several important laws and ratifications that bring us closer to the European Union. No matter how difficult it is – even in the conditions of such a war – we are moving step by step towards full membership in the EU. I have just signed these documents – on accession to the Convention on the Simplification of Formalities in Trade in Goods and to the Convention on the Common Transit Procedure. They are the actual implementation of the customs visa-free regime,” Zelensky said in his evening address.

He thanked the Ukrainian diplomats, government officials, MPs who facilitate Ukraine’s European integration.

“Ukraine will be a full member of the EU – and we are already closer to Europe than at any time in previous decades,” Zelensky said.

As reported, the Parliament adopted Law No. 0166 "On Ukraine’s Accession to the Convention on the Common Transit Procedure" which allows the application of European transit rules, enabling enterprises to use a single customs declaration and a single guarantee for the movement of goods from their warehouse to the counterparty's warehouse. The ratification of the Convention is expected to promote faster and cheaper movement of goods to benefit all supply chain participants: exporters, carriers, importers.

At its meeting on August 30, the Verkhovna Rada also adopted Law No. 0165 "On Ukraine's Accession to the Convention on the Simplification of Formalities in Trade in Goods" which simplifies the formalities in trade in goods with European countries and will allow fulfilling the conditions for joining the common transit procedure.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal expects that Ukraine will get a "customs visa-free regime" as early as 2022. According to him, "customs visa-free regime" means faster movement of goods between the countries of the European region, less bureaucracy at customs, fewer opportunities for abuse, and exchange of data with neighboring customs offices in real time.

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