EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area

The EU and Ukraine have provisionally applied an Association Agreement since November 2014. As a part of this association agreement, a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) has been provisionally applied since January 2016. It reduces tariffs that European firms face when exporting to Ukraine. The agreement facilitates trade by making customs procedures more efficient and by gradual approximation of Ukrainian legislation, rules and procedures, including standards, to those of the EU.

The agreement at a glance

The EU and Ukraine have provisionally applied their Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) since 1 January 2016, as part of the broader Association Agreement (AA), whose political and cooperation provisions have been provisionally applied since November 2014. The DCFTA opens markets for goods and services on both sides, based on predictable and enforceable trade rules.

What are the benefits for your business?

The association agreement

The EU is one of Ukraine’s largest trading partners, which means that there are several opportunities to import and export from the EU to Ukraine, and vice versa. The key export goods are raw materials such as iron, steel, mining products, agricultural products, machinery and chemical products. Ukraine is currently working to streamline policies to benefit small businesses when trading with the EU. Small businesses can also receive support from the EU’s SME Flagship Initiative.

Tariffs

The EU-Ukraine agreement improves the competitiveness of European businesses in the Ukrainian market and vice versa. Overall, for trade in goods, the agreement eliminated the majority of tariffs – EU: 98.1% and Ukraine: 99.1%.

Industrial goods

While a large part of the tariffs on industrial goods were eliminated when the agreement came into force, transitional periods were agreed for a number of product lines.

EU

The agreement removed 94.7% of the tariff lines.

For a few goods tariffs are still gradually being eliminated by the EU with the following transitional periods

Ukraine

On the entry into force of the agreement, 49.2% of industrial products could enter Ukraine free of duties.

The share of EU exports liberalised by Ukraine is scheduled to increase to 96% by 2023. This further gradual elimination of tariffs concerns the following product lines

Ukraine’s motor vehicle sector will also enjoy a transitional period lasting until 2026, a result of negotiations agreed upon at the WTO in 2008.

Agricultural goods

EU

Import duties on most agricultural goods imported into the EU was reduced to zero in 2016. Tariff rate quotas apply for the rest of the agricultural goods that are not liberalised. The management of these quotas are done either on a first come first serve basis or via import licences. You can find a list of all the tariff rate quotas for both EU and Ukraine in Appendix 1 and 2 to Annex I-A.

Ukraine

Almost half of Ukraine’s agricultural goods were liberalised when the agreement entered into force, but a small number of goods are subject to a transitional period lasting until 2023.

Not all of Ukraine’s import duties will be reduced to zero

The EU-Ukraine agreement prohibits the use of export duties by both parties. However, the government of Ukraine agreed to phase out existing export duties towards certain goods by 2026, including livestock and hide raw materials, seeds of some types of oil-yielding crops and types of metal. More information on this can be found in Annex I-C of the EU-Ukraine agreement.

A specific safeguard measure mechanism is provided for Ukraine’s export lasting up to 2031. This means that Ukraine is allowed to impose a surcharge on the export duty of several goods, such as raw hide materials, sunflower seeds and types of metal, steel and copper if, during a yearly period, the cumulative volume of exports from Ukraine to the EU exceeds a trigger level. More information on this can be found in Annex I-D of the EU-Ukraine agreement.

Find the tariff rate applicable to your product in My Trade Assistant.

Rules of origin

In order to qualify for preferential treatment (lower or no Customs duty), your product needs to comply with certain rules that define its origin, the rules of origin, which are laid down in the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention.

Please check the interactive “Rules of Origin Self Assessment tool (ROSA)” in My Trade Assistant to assess whether your product fulfils the rules of origin and find out how to prepare the correct documents. More information available on how to use ROSA

If you are new to the topic, you can find an introduction to the main concepts in the goods section.

Product requirements

Technical rules and requirements

The EU-Ukraine agreement provides for the harmonisation of legislation, standards and conformity assessment procedures between Ukraine and the EU. Therefore, manufacturers from Ukraine have to comply with only one set of requirements for their products to be placed on both EU’s and Ukraine’s markets.

Ukraine approximated regulations include

For a list of all 27 regulations that cover the safety requirements of a wide range of products including machinery, lifts, toys, medical devices and simple pressure vessels see Annex III of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

In terms of standards, Ukraine has

How will I know that the goods I am importing into the EU conform to EU regulations and standards?

The parties’ cooperation on market surveillance and conformity assessment procedures means that if you are exporting high-risk goods such as pressure vessels, lifts and certain machinery to the EU, you only need a conformity assessment conducted by a Notified Body (laboratories or other inspection and certification bodies accredited by the Ukrainian government).

Find a list of Ukraine’s 114 appointed bodies engaged in assessment of conformity of products, all of which have been accredited by the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine

If you want to import goods into the EU from Ukraine, you will need to go through the process of proving conformity through an EU Declaration of Conformity signed by your manufacturer. After having done so, the manufacturer can then affix the CE marking on their products where this is required.

Under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, an Agreement on Conformity and Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAA) will be concluded. This is a type of Mutual Recognition Agreement between the EU and Ukraine. Under this agreement, the EU and Ukraine will allow industrial products listed in the annexes of the ACAA and that fulfil the requirements of conformity to be placed on either market without further testing or conformity procedures.

Health and safety requirements – SPS

Food safety, animal and plant health

In order for you to export from or import smoothly into the EU from Ukraine or vice versa, there are certain rules relating to plant and animal health and safety between Ukraine and the EU that you should know. The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement harmonised many SPS rules and prohibited parties from putting into place any unjustified barriers.

When it comes to animal or plant diseases, including pests, there are procedures for recognising the pest-free status of given regions. This is for trade purposes and for the notification of risks to public, animal or plant health. In the event that the importing country needs to take measures to control a serious health risk, the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement allows for provisional restrictive measures to be taken towards imports. These are, however, implemented in a manner that minimises the disruption to trade between the two countries. Find more information on the procedures in Annex VI of the EU-Ukraine agreement.

SPS control in Ukraine

The government exercises three types of border control:

Sanitary and epidemiological control

This aims to protect the country from the spread of diseases as well as to implement tests that ensure goods are compliant to the sanitary standards. This type of control is obligatory and is exercised mainly over imported food products, some consumer products and also the export of sunflower oils. Goods that fall under the category of farm produce will not be subject to sanitary and epidemiological control.

Veterinary and sanitary control

This control aims to prevent the spread of animal diseases. Veterinary and sanitary control is usually applied for exports, imports, and transit of animals, reproductive material, biological products, pathological material, veterinary preparations, animal care products, feed additives, premixes, and animal products (including meat products, eggs, milk, fish and honey).

Phytosanitary control

This type of control not only prevents the spread of pests, it is also designed to supervise quarantine regimes. Phytosanitary control is applied for exports, imports and the transit of plants and plant products (including food products), packaging, means of transportation, soil and other products that spread regulated pests.

Technical Barriers to Trade

Although technical rules are important, they can at times act as barriers to international trade and can thus be a considerable burden for you as an exporter

Customs clearance documents and procedures

The agreement ensures more transparent and simplified customs procedures to facilitate trade and reduce costs for businesses.

Documents

The step-by-step guides describe the different types of documents you should prepare for customs clearance of your products.

Depending on your product, the customs authorities may require all or some of the elements below

For more certainty, you may wish to apply for Binding Tariff Information and/or Binding Origin Information in advance.

For detailed information about which documents you need to present for customs clearance for your product, go to My Trade Assistant.

Procedures for proving and verification of origin

For descriptions of how to prove the origin of your products to claim preferential tariffs and of rules relating to verification of origin by customs authorities, please refer to the section on rules of origin above.

For information on customs procedures for import and export in general, visit the website of DG Taxation and Customs Union.

Intellectual property and geographical indicators

The agreement protects your intellectual property rights when importing and/or exporting your goods to Ukraine.

Trademarks and copyright

The EU-Ukraine agreement complies with several international agreements that regulate the administration of trademarks and copyright, providing a fair and transparent system for the registration of trademarks. If an application is refused by a trademark administration, the decision must be communicated to the applicant in writing and reasons for the refusal must be provided. A trademark may be revoked if it has not been put to genuine use within 5 years in the territory in which it was registered.

Designs and patents

Under the EU-Ukraine agreement, your independently created designs that have individual character are protected through their registration for a period of up to 25 years. This will provide you with the exclusive right to use the design and prevent third parties from using, recreating, selling or importing and/or exporting it without your consent.

Geographical indications

A specific committee on geographic indicators that is set up under the EU-Ukraine agreement will monitor the implementation of the agreement in relation to intellectual property, and report to the Trade Committee.

Trademarks

Trademark applications should be filed with the Ukrainian Institute of Intellectual Property (the Ukrainian PTO), which is a state enterprise.

You will need the following documents and information if you want to file a trademark in Ukraine

The registration process is as follows

Geographical indication

Firstly, in order to register for a geographical indication in Ukraine, you must submit your application in Ukrainian language. You can file the documents in a foreign language and submit a translation into Ukrainian no later than 3 months from the filing date of the application. Once your application and supporting documents have been received they will be assessed by the Ukrainian Institute of Intellectual Property.

Your application must contain the following documentation

Please note that as a foreign applicant in Ukraine, you will also be expected to file further supporting documents along with your application. These documents should confirm

Trade in services

Both the government of Ukraine and the EU have set out all their existing limitations or reservations to the supply of services with a high level of transparency. Reservations adopted by Ukraine can be found in Annex XVI-D to F.

How do you navigate through the Annexes?

The EU-Ukraine agreement contains 3 Annexes that you should be aware of when exporting. These contain reservations that Ukraine put forward for EU exporters

Who can establish a business in Ukraine?

You will receive the same treatment as that given to nationals of Ukraine and vice versa. Annex XVI-D provides a list of sectors where limitations are placed on establishment.

Cross-border supply of services

If you are interested in the cross-border supply of services, you are allowed supply to Ukraine (and vice versa) with the same conditions as those given to nationals of Ukraine. The following exceptions apply

In the sectors where you are allowed market access into Ukraine (and vice versa), the EU-Ukraine agreement removes the following limitations