Ukraine missed almost all deadlines for implementation of legislative changes in the field of sanitary and phytosanitary measures

At its meeting on December 9, the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU considered Ukraine's implementation of the Association Agreement in the field of sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Serhiy Glushchenko, Deputy Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine, and Ruslan Tkachenko, consultant for the EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform Project, took part in the discussion.

Legislation in the field of sanitary and phytosanitary measures regulates the protection of life and health of humans, animals and plants. Ukraine’s obligations to bring its laws in this area in line with the EU law are set out in Section IV “Trade and Trade-Related Matters” of the Association Agreement and Annex V of the AA. Ukraine started fulfilling its obligations to change the legislation in the field of SPS on January 1, 2016. Ruslan Tkachenko, EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform project consultant, informed that Ukraine had already missed the deadlines for implementing legislative changes in most areas, and those that had not been missed were running out this year. Also in Ukraine, according to Ruslan Tkachenko, no work was carried out to analyze and take into account changes in EU legislation, which has also been modified since 2015. According to the Study of the EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform Project of the status of implementation of legislative obligations in the sanitary and phytosanitary area, Ukraine still has to adopt more than 10 bills to take into account more than 30 acts and directives of the European Union in this area (see details file:///Users/shamborovska/Downloads/%D0%A1%D0%A4%D0%97%20(1).pdf).

Serhiy Glushchenko, Deputy Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine, said that only two draft laws have been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada so far: No. 3318 “On veterinary medicine and animal welfare” and No. 2289 “On import of pesticides into the customs territory of Ukraine”. By the end of the year, according to Serhiy Glushchenko, the Ministry plans to introduce 5 more draft laws — on plant protection, which implements 18 EU acts at once, a draft law on objects and materials, which contact with food, a draft law on state regulation of GMOs, and documents, which clarify the legislation in the field of food safety and the legislation in the field of veterinary medicine.

Following the discussion, the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU decided:

1. To recommend to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine to:
• accelerate the development of a draft Law on the traceability of foodstuffs, which implements Directive 2011/91/EU of the European Parliament and the Council and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 208/2013;
• speed up the development of a draft law on the identification and registration of animals, which implements Commission Regulation (EC) No. 494/98 and Commission Regulation (EC) No.1082/2003;
• finalize the development of the draft law “On the basic principles of state control over genetically modified products in agriculture and food industry and in the implementation of genetic engineering activities”;
• complete the development of the draft Law “On requirements for materials and articles in contact with foodstuffs”;
• complete the development of the draft Law “On amendments to the law of Ukraine on seeds and planting material”;
• complete the development of the draft Law “On plant protection”;
• complete the development of the draft Law “On amendments to certain laws of Ukraine regarding foodstuffs and other objects of sanitary measures”;
• analyze the compliance of Ukrainian laws in the field of sanitary measures with Regulation (EU) 2017/625 (on official controls) and other acts of the EU law that came into force after 2017. In case of discrepancies, develop a draft law on making the necessary changes to the laws of Ukraine.

2. To recommend to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine to complete the development of the draft law “On the state system of biosafety in the creation, testing, transportation and use of genetically modified organisms”.

3. To apply to the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy regarding the preparation of:
- draft Law No. 3680 “On amendments to certain laws of Ukraine regarding simplification of examination procedures, registration of plant varieties and seed circulation” for consideration in the first reading;
- the draft Law No. 3318 “On Veterinary Medicine and Animal Welfare” for consideration in the second reading.