Economy ministry expects to sign ACAA Agreement with EU as soon as possible

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Economy Deputy Minister Vitaliy Kidrativ in an interview with Ukrinform.

According to Kindrativ, in preparation for the signing of this agreement, Ukraine has brought thousands of national standards, dozens of technical regulations, standardization, metrology, conformity assessment, market surveillance and accreditation systems in line with European norms.

A number of important bills were endorsed, namely ‘On Metrology and Metrological Activity’, ‘On Standardization’, ‘On Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment’, and ‘On Accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies’.

“In October 2020, the European Union launched a preliminary assessment mission to determine the readiness of Ukraine’s quality infrastructure for the conclusion of the ACAA Agreement. The inspection ended in July 2023. The findings indicate progress in bringing the Ukrainian legislation in all areas of quality infrastructure closer to the core provisions of the EU. Following the mission, we received a number of recommendations, and are actively implementing them now,” Kindrativ told.

In cooperation with other members of Ukraine’s quality infrastructure system, the Ukrainian Economy Ministry is working on the implementation of recommendations to transition to the official assessment and initiate the negotiation process regarding the signing of the ACAA Agreement, thereby introducing the ‘industrial visa-free regime’, as soon as possible.

“The ACAA Agreement provides for Ukrainian exporters to be granted equal conditions on the European market by reducing technical barriers for industrial goods through the mutual recognition of regulatory equivalence (certification) and economic integration mechanisms. The signing of the agreement will contribute to the simplification of trade, economic recovery, increased competitiveness of Ukrainian industrial products, both on the domestic and foreign markets, and investment raising,” Kindrativ emphasized.

A reminder that the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAA) provides for the mutual recognition of certificates issued by the signatory parties. This saves exporters time and money for the re-certification of products when selling them in partner markets.

In general, the ‘industrial visa-free regime’ under the ACAA Agreement covers 27 product groups. For Ukraine, at the initial stage, it will only apply to three priority sectors, such as machinery, low-voltage electrical equipment, and electromagnetic compatibility of equipment. According to expert estimates, the ACCA Agreement will help to reduce export costs for the supply of relevant products by 4.9%, and their import costs – by 2.3%.