Ukrainian Rada passes bill to join 1987 convention on common transit procedure

MOSCOW. Aug 15 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada has passed Customs Code amendments that enables Ukraine to join the May 20, 1987 Convention on a common transit procedure and to participate in the New Computerized Transit System (NCTS), which allows the signatories to the convention to submit and finalize their transit declarations by electronic means.

The amendments were approved by 275 Ukrainian parliamentarians in a vote on Monday, Ukrainian media outlets said, citing MPs.

"The law helps align Ukrainian customs legislation with this legislation of the European Union. In particular, it updates existing rules by simplifying customs clearance procedures for reliable enterprises, by granting financial guarantor status and by ensuring payments of customs duties," Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on social media.

The amendments also pave the way for introducing the European mechanism for processing complaints and for continuing to digitalize customs procedures, steps that will help cut the time of getting through customs and reduce corruption risks, Shmyhal said.

"The further development of a customs 'visa-free' relationship with the EU will allow Ukraine to exchange customs information on transit cargoes with 36 countries in real time, introduce special transit simplifications and set simply and equal terms for financial guarantors," the prime minister said.

The convention of May 20, 1987 on a common transit procedure forms the basis for the movement of goods between the EU member states, the four EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland), Turkey, the Republic of North Macedonia, and Serbia using the NCTS.

"We will launch it on October 1," chairman of the Verkhovna Rada's committee on finance, tax, and customs policy Daniil Hetmantsev said on social media after the bill was adopted.

Yaroslav Zheleznyak, deputy chairman of the aforementioned committee, said earlier that as the bill was fine-tuned, a rule was added to it by the parliament together with business associations that permits reduced indicators of companies' financial solvency (financial sustainability) and liquidity to be used during the country's martial law and within a year after it is lifted to carry out evaluations (repeat evaluations or monitoring) to certify authorized economic operators.