Ukraine, Issue No. 28-12, 2015

Pharmacies may now sell essential oils

The list of products which may be sold in pharmacies has been expanded to include instruments for oral, skin, nail and hair care, cotton buds and pads, feminine hygiene products, essential oils and some other non-pharmaceutical products.

The aim of this amendment is to improve the efficiency of pharmacies by way of increasing their volume of sales and to ensure that people residing in countryside are provided with the essential non-pharma products.

Law: Order No. 764 of 23 November 2015 amended Order No. 498 of 6 July 2012 on the Adoption of the List of Products Which Pharmacies May Purchase and Sell.

Additional import duties for certain products are to be abolished as of 1 January 2016

Additional import duties were imposed temporarily, for one year, as of 26 February 2015 by the Direction No. 119-r of 16 February 2015.

For example, 10% duty was imposed on meat, dairy, coffee and sugar and a 5% duty – on clothing, metal and ceramics.

Customs will be issuing EUR.1 Certificates free of charge

Starting from 1 January 2016 customs offices will be issuing EUR.1 certificates free of charge. According to the Agreement on the Association between Ukraine and the EU. The procedure of issuing such certificates will be simplified as much as possible. However, the exporter will be subject to stricter liability for the accuracy of information which is necessary in order to determine Ukrainian origin of the goods. There will be 162 customs offices which will be issuing EUR.1 Certificates.

In 2016 businesses will undergo state inspections but only once

 According to the adopted Plan of Comprehensive Inspections, business companies will undergo inspections in 2016 by all state inspection bodies at once. This means that only one comprehensive inspection will be performed in relation to each individual company, instead of several inspections performed at different times, as before. The Plan contains over 13000 companies from different manufacturing and commercial sectors and specifies which inspections each company is to undergo and when. The Plan was adopted by Order No. 1553 of 30 November 2015.