Rada adopts law on Common Transit Conventions with EU. What this means for Ukraine

The Verkhovna Rada has adopted amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine to join the Convention on the Common Transit Procedure and participation in the New Computerised Transit System.

The bill was approved by a total of 275 MPs, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Yaroslav Zheleznyak said.

As Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal explained, the law brings Ukrainian customs legislation closer to EU legislation. In particular, it simplifies customs clearance for trustworthy enterprises, improves the granting of financial guarantor status and ensuring the payment of customs payments.

Also, the changes provide for the introduction of a European complaint handling mechanism and the continuation of the digitalization of customs, which should also reduce corruption risks.

"Further conclusion of the customs agreement with the EU will give Ukraine the opportunity to introduce the exchange of customs information on transit cargo with 36 countries in real time, special transit simplifications and simple and equal conditions for financial guarantors," Shmyhal emphasized.

The head of the relevant parliamentary committee, Danil Getmantsev, said that they plan to put the draft law into effect on October 1.

As Deutsche Welle explained, the integration of Ukrainian customs with European customs should help Ukrainian exporters. Enterprises that will receive the status of an authorized economic operator will benefit from simplified customs procedures.

It should be noted that the Convention on the common transit procedure unites the countries of the European region (EU, EFTA, Turkey, North Macedonia and Serbia), which have introduced uniform rules for declaration and control of transit movements of goods using NCTS for all contracting parties.