Ukraine - Country Commercial Guide
Standards for Trade
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Overview

U.S. and other foreign companies have long regarded Ukraine’s system of technical regulations as a significant obstacle to trade and investment. Ukraine has passed several new laws and governmental decrees in recent years aimed at bringing Ukrainian practices in this area into line with the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). As part of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) Ukraine began approximating its standards to the EU in 2016 and adopted and introduced various legislative amendments, among them:

Standards

Technical regulations in Ukraine are coordinated by the Department for Technical Regulations of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and developed by the State Enterprise Ukrainian Scientific, Research and Training Center for Certification, Standards, and Quality (SE “UkrNDNC) which serves as a national standardization body. Enforcement of the quality of products and their compliance to the national standards is done by the State Inspection for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. Certification is a fee-based service in Ukraine. This certification service is delegated to about 100 accredited certification agencies listed at the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine.

An importer, or its Ukrainian trading partner, are free to choose one of the accredited certification agencies and order a product certification needed for sale or production use of products in Ukraine. Depending on the type of product, testing, and applicable certification scheme, the certification process can take up to 30 days.

Conformity Assessment - In September 2017, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine amended the Law of Ukraine on standardization thereby cancelling the mandatory application of national standards. Voluntary application of standards meets the requirements of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade of the World Trade Organization, as well as European principles of standardization. Certification is also no longer mandatory per repeal of an order effective March 2018.

According to Article 15 of the Economic Code of Ukraine, revised on August 17, 2022, standardization is required for product development, production, or supply that refers to certain standards, if a manufacturer or supplier of products has made a declaration of conformity of production to certain standards or indicated a standard on its label, and in certain other cases where application of standards or codes of established practice is regulated by law.

Importers can request that a foreign facility be certified in compliance with Ukraine’s technical regulations. This option usually involves a costly inspection visit by Ukrainian government officials to the facility. If approved, the supplier receives a certificate of conformity valid for 2 years to 5 years and avoids the necessity of certifying each shipment and mandatory laboratory testing of goods upon arrival into Ukraine.

More information about product certification options and the process in Ukraine at the site of State Enterprise “UkrMetrTestStandart” and State Enterprise “Ukrainian Scientific, Research and Training Center for Certification, Standards, and Quality”.

According to the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers #1067 “Technical Regulation of Low-Voltage Electrical Equipment” and #139 “On Approval of the Technical Regulation for Restricting the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment” the Declaration of Conformity is required for certain goods during customs clearance and for release in the Ukrainian market.

A Ukrainian official certification center can issue Declaration of Conformity. Contact information for official certification centers can be found at the official website of the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU).

Testing, inspection, and certification

Importers can choose which type of technical standard certificates they would like to apply for:

  • A certificate for a single batch of goods;
  • A certificate for up to one year, which is valid for all imported goods during that year with one or two additional selective tests; and
  • A certificate for up to two years, for which inspection of production facilities is mandatory.

The certification and approval process are lengthy, duplicative, and expensive, with politics and corruption still often behind arbitrary application of regulations.

Depending on the market strategy and prospects in the market, American exporter may consider applying for certification of their products in Ukraine. Since all paperwork for submission to a Ukrainian certification agency should be in the Ukrainian language and in person, it is recommended that American exporter hire an attorney from a local or international law firms for certification of products in Ukraine. Other option is to delegate any required certifications in Ukraine to a Ukrainian trading partner or end-user. As a rule, the following documents issued outside Ukraine confirming a product’s conformity to specific requirements are to be submitted to a Ukrainian certification agency:

  • An application stating that the company wishes to certify imported products;
  • A certificate of conformity;
  • User manuals, if available
  • Standards (technical conditions) of production and the procedures for certification;
  • A certificate of accreditation from the testing laboratory;
  • A protocol/summary of test results;
  • A certificate of quality control; and
  • A certificate of origin (manufacturing). 

Because the list of documents issued outside Ukraine confirming a product’s conformity changes frequently, businesses should contact one of the accredited certification agencies.

Publications and information regarding Ukrainian standards and technical regulations can be found on the website of the “Ukrainian Scientific, Research and Training Center for Certification, Standards, and Quality” (SE “UkrNDNC).

Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures 

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by WTO Members under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995 to present.  ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and does not require registration unless the user wishes to receive customized e-mail alerts.  Use it to browse notifications on past as well as new draft and updated product regulations, food safety and animal and plant health standards and regulations, find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees, locate information on SPS/TBT Enquiry Points and notification authorities, and to follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest. 

Notify U.S., operated and maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) since 2003 to distribute and provide access to notifications (and associated draft texts) made under the WTO TBT Agreement for US stakeholders, has reached its end of life.  Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates a national TBT (and an SPS) Enquiry Point.   National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat.  All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point.  Refer to the comment guidance at https://tsapps.nist.gov/notifyus/data/guidance/guidance.cfm for further information.

The list of technical regulations and standards and EU Council Directives are available at the website of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

Contact Information

For market feasibility or research purposes, interested U.S. manufacturers can order for a fee a full package of Ukrainian technical regulations relating to their products from ushop@uas.org.ua

Department for Technical Regulations of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine

12/2, Hrushevskiy Street, Kyiv, 01008, Ukraine

Phone: +380 44 528-85-64, Fax: +380 44 528-90-14

Email: dtr@me.gov.ua

Ukrainian Scientific, Research and Training Center for Certification, Standards, and Quality

http://uas.org.ua/ua/

2, Svyatoshynska Street, Kyiv,03115, Ukraine

Phone: +380 44 452-3396; Fax: +380 44 452-6907

E-mail: ukrndnc@uas.org.ua

 

State Regulatory Service of Ukraine

9/11, Arsenalna Street, Kyiv, 01011, Ukraine

Phone: +380 44 239-76-40

E-mail: inform@dkrp.gov.ua