Ukraine hopes to extend permit-free trucking, duty-free trade with EU in 2024
MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government's objectives for 2024 include extending the permit-free trucking and duty-free trade agreements with the European Union, as well as signing an agreement on conformity assessment and acceptance of industrial products (ACAA) as soon as possible, Ukrainian media reported citing Prime Minister Denis Shmygal.
The government knows how to realize these objectives, Shmygal said on Telegram after a meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the president of Ukraine. "The expertise, teams, resources - we have it all," he added.
Ukraine is continuing to integrate into the European single market,Ukraine's energy system has already fully integrated with the European grid and the country is introducing EU regulations to gain free access to the EU's roaming market, he said.
The permit-free system for Ukrainian truckers, which was introduced on July 1, 2022 and expires in July 2024, is one of the reasons that truckers from Hungary, Slovakia and Poland have been protesting since November. They believe the elimination of permits for Ukrainian truckers to work on the European market has undercut rates for trucking services and is having a devastating impact on the transport markets in countries neighboring Ukraine, and they are demanding the permits be reinstated. Protests have been particularly bitter in Poland, where truckers have blocked several checkpoints on the border with Ukraine.
The free trade regime with the EU, which was introduced in 2022 and expires in June 2024, has led to lower-priced Ukrainian food goods flooding the markets of neighboring Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania given that much of Ukraine's agricultural exports have been redirected to Europe. This has triggered protests by local farmers.
Under pressure from these countries, the European Commission was forced to adopt special measures in May to temporarily prohibit imports of Ukrainian food goods into these countries. After the ban expired in mid-September, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland imposed bans at the national level over EC objections. In response, Ukraine filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization. Proceedings in the WTO have now been suspended to allow for negotiations with the participation of the EC.
Negotiations on an ACAA, which would recognize Ukraine's system of technical regulation and conformity assessment as equivalent to the European one, have been underway for several years. The signing of an ACAA, or so-called "industrial visa-free" deal, would allow Ukrainian manufacturers of industrial products to obtain the necessary certificates in Ukraine instead of turning to an official representative and resident of the EU who has the right to receive such a document. The possibility of signing such an agreement is included in Ukraine's association agreement with the EU.
An ACAA was initially expected to be signed for three sectors: low-voltage electrical equipment, electromagnetic compatibility of equipment and machinery. After EU recognition is secured for these sectors, this practice may be expanded to other industrial products.