Describes the country's standards landscape, identifies the national standards and accreditation bodies, and lists the main national testing organization(s) and conformity assessment bodies.
Last Published: 8/6/2019

Overview

U.S. and other foreign companies have long regarded Ukraine’s system of technical regulations as a significant obstacle to trade and investment. Ukraine has passed several new laws and governmental decrees in recent years aimed at bringing Ukrainian practices in this area into line with the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), but significant problems remain. As part of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) Ukraine began approximating its standards to the EU in 2016 . In 2015, Ukraine cancelled 15,000 old technical regulations and adopted 3,996 national standards, and in 2016 it developed and adopted 1,300 standards. To do this Ukraine adopted and introduced various legislative amendments, among them:

Standards

Technical regulations in Ukraine are coordinated by the Department for Technical Regulations of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine and developed by the State Enterprise Ukrainian Scientific, Research and Training Center for Certification, Standards, and Quality (SE “UkrNDNC) which serves as a national standardization body. Enforcement of the quality of products and their compliance to the national standards is done by the State Inspection for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. Certification is a fee-based service in Ukraine. This certification service is delegated to about 100 accredited certification agencies listed at the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine.
An importer, or its Ukrainian trading partner, are free to choose one of the accredited certification agencies and order a product certification needed for sale or production use of products in Ukraine. Depending on the type of product, testing, and applicable certification scheme, the certification process can take up to 30 days.

NIST Notify U.S. Service 

Member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to report to the WTO all proposed technical regulations that could affect trade with other Member countries. Notify U.S. is a free, web-based e-mail subscription service that offers an opportunity to review and comment on proposed foreign technical regulations that can affect your access to international markets. Register online at NIST website.

Conformity Assessment - In September 2017, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine amended the Law of Ukraine On Standardization cancelling the mandatory application of national standards. Voluntary application of standards meets the requirements of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade of the World Trade Organization, as well as European principles of standardization. Certification is no also longer mandatory per repeal of an order effective March 2018.

According to Article 15 of Economic Code of Ukraine revised on June 17, 2018, standardization is required by this Law for participants of agreements for products development, production or supply which refer to certain standards, if a manufacturer or supplier of products has made a declaration of conformity of production to certain standards or indicated a standard on its label, and other cases where application of standards or codes of established practice is regulated by certain regulatory acts.
Importers can request that a foreign facility be certified in compliance with Ukraine's technical regulations. This option usually involves a costly inspection visit by Ukrainian government officials to the facility. If approved, the supplier receives a certificate of conformity valid for 2 years to 5 years and avoids the necessity of certifying each shipment and mandatory laboratory testing of goods upon arrival into Ukraine.

More information about product certification options and the process in Ukraine at the site of State Enterprise “UkrMetrTestStandart”  and State Enterprise “Ukrainian Scientific, Research and Training Center for Certification, Standards, and Quality”.

According to the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers #1149 “Technical Regulation of Low-Voltage Electrical Equipment” and #1057 “On Approval of the Technical Regulation for Restricting the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment” the Declaration of Conformity is required for certain goods during customs clearance and for release in the Ukrainian market.

Declaration of Conformity can be issued by a Ukrainian official certification center. Contact information for official certification centers can be found at the official website of the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU).

Testing, inspection and certification

Importers can choose which type of technical standard certificates they would like to apply for:

  • A certificate for a single batch of goods;

  • A certificate for up to one year, which is valid for all imported goods during that year with one or two additional selective tests; and

  • A certificate for up to two years, for which inspection of production facilities is mandatory.

The certification and approval process are lengthy, duplicative, and expensive, with politics and corruption still often behind arbitrary application of regulations.
Depending on the market strategy and prospects in the market, American exporter may consider applying for certification of their products in Ukraine. Since all paperwork for submission to a Ukrainian certification agency should be in the Ukrainian language and in person, it is recommended that American exporter hire an attorney from a local or international law firms for certification of products in Ukraine. Other option is to delegate any required certifications in Ukraine to a Ukrainian trading partner or end-user. As a rule, the following documents issued outside Ukraine confirming a product's conformity to specific requirements are to be submitted to a Ukrainian certification agency:
An application stating that the company wishes to certify imported products;

  • A certificate of conformity;

  • User manuals, if available

  • Standards (technical conditions) of production and the procedures for certification;

  • A certificate of accreditation from the testing laboratory;

  • A protocol/summary of test results;

  • A certificate of quality control; and

  • A certificate of origin (manufacturing). 

Because the list of documents issued outside Ukraine confirming a product's conformity changes frequently, businesses should contact one of the accredited certification agencies.

Publications

and information regarding Ukrainian standards and technical regulations can be found on the website of the “Ukrainian Scientific, Research and Training Center for Certification, Standards, and Quality” (SE “UkrNDNC ).
The list of technical regulations and standards and EU Council Directives are available at the website of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.  

Contact Information

For market feasibility or research purposes, interested U.S. manufacturers can order for a fee a full package of Ukrainian technical regulations relating to their products from ushop@uas.org.ua

Department for Technical Regulations of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine
12/2, Hrushevskiy Street, Kyiv, 01008, Ukraine
Phone: +380 44 528-85-64, Fax: +380 44 528-90-14
Email: dtr@me.gov.ua

SE “Ukrainian Scientific, Research and Training Center for Certification, Standards, and Quality”
2, Svyatoshynska Street, Kyiv,03115, Ukraine
Phone: +380 44 452-3396; Fax: +380 44 452-6907

State Inspection on Consumer Rights Protection of Ukraine
174 Antonovycha St, Kyiv, 03680, Ukraine
Phone: +38 044 528 9244

State Regulatory Service of Ukraine
9/11, Arsenalna Street, Kyiv, 01011, Ukraine
Phone: +380 44 254 56 73
Fax: +380 44 254-43-93
E-mail: inform@dkrp.gov.ua

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