On 14 August 2009 the joint Order No.789/414/709 of Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Environmental Protection and the State Customs Service establishing a Procedure for customs clearance of goods imported in packaging came into force.

The Procedure provides that customs clearance for goods imported in packaging requires an "Import allowed" stamp from the environmental inspector. To obtain such a stamp an importer/recipient or a person authorised to submit a declaration, needs to provide the environmental inspector with an evidence of either

1) an agreement concluded with the State Company Ukrecocomresursy on organising collection, storage and utilisation of this packaging; or

2) acceptance and utilisation of such a packaging by the company "on its own".

In the event that the company neither has an agreement with Ukrecocomresursy nor shows evidence of its own capacity to accept and utilise the imported packaging, it will be required to sign an agreement with Ukrecocomresursy at the point of the customs clearance.

The stamp of the environmental inspector is provided upon submission of a declaration indicating the total weight and type of the packaging of imported goods and the fee due for its collection and utilisation. The fee is calculated in accordance with the provisions of Regulation No.915 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

The joint Order was adopted to facilitate enforcement of the amendments made by the Cabinet of Ministers to the Regulation No.915 a few months earlier, on May 20 2009. The amended Regulation No.915 eliminates the option for companies to comply with their utilisation obligation by entering into agreements with other specialised waste collection and utilisation organisations. Despite the fact that this contradicts waste, antitrust and tax legislation and may lead to the elimination of competition on the market, according to the opinion of the Antimonopoly Committee, the customs and environmental authorities are determined to enforce the Order No.789/414/709.

Enforcement of Order No.789/414/709 was, however, temporarily suspended by the letter of the State Customs Service of Ukraine No.11/1-10.10/7798-ЕП dated 14 August 2009 due to the fact that the customs points are not yet technically ready to implement this control.

Law: Procedure for customs clearance of goods imported in packaging and packaging materials, adopted by the joint order No.789/414/709 of Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Environmental Protection and the State Customs Service of Ukraine dated 30 July 2009

Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No.508 Amending the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No.915 dated 26 July 2001

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The original publication date for this article was 21/08/2009 .