Milestone agreement with the EU and the lack of Polish road transportation permits: main topics of KCCI Export and Investment Support Committee session

The industrial visa-free regime with the European Union and the lack of Polish transit permits were discussed by government and business representatives during the session of the Export and Investment Support Committee of the Kyiv Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Committee is chaired by Viktor Shevchenko, a co-owner of ZAMMLER GROUP.

The session was opened with a discussion of a less problematic issue (the so called industrial visa-free regime). It’s an unofficial name of the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products, ACAA, which provides great opportunities for Ukrainian entrepreneurs.

The negotiations with respect to conclusion of the Agreement have lasted for 16 years, and finally we have some developments. In January foreign specialists will come to Ukraine in order to assess our domestic laboratories, and in early summer they will assess the businesses falling under the criteria included in the Agreement.

After the implementation of the industrial visa-free regime, Ukrainian enterprises will no longer need double certification of their products. Performing the certification once will be enough. This will allow them to save time and money.

For now, the industrial visa-free regime is planned to be implemented within three sectors of the economy: machine building, low voltage equipment and electromagnetic compatibility.

However, the situation with the lack of permits is critical, Viktor Shevchenko said.

Without Polish permits (as well as without Romanian and Hungarian permits) Ukrainian trucks cannot reach almost 20 countries.

“With such a level of lack of permits transportation business in Ukraine will cease to exist, and I’m not joking”, said the co-owner of ZAMMLER GROUP and the Chairman of the KCCI Export and Investment Support Committee.

Transportation companies are suffering huge losses. There are long lines at checkpoints. Nothing is being done in order to resolve the situation at the level of border protection and customs authorities of Ukraine and Poland.

Ukrainian trucks cannot travel abroad, therefore, our transport operators are being replaced by European ones.

Transport operators request more Polish permits for Ukraine for 2021 and an increase of the quota for the next year. Otherwise, there may be disastrous consequences, they warn.