On 05 April 2015, the Law of Ukraine “On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine with Respect to Simplification of Business Practices (de-regulation)” (hereinafter - the “De-Regulation Law”) came into force. The De-Regulation Law abolishes a number of permits and other means of state regulation in agribusiness and certain other related fields. Similar provisions regarding de-regulation of certain business areas are also envisaged by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine № 42 “On certain issues regarding de-regulation of economic activity” dated 11 February 2015. The main purpose of these changes is to reduce the costs of doing business in Ukraine, to minimize corruption component, as well as to bring Ukrainian legislation in line with the EU legislation.

The key changes introduced by the new legislation are as follows:

• List of products subject to quarantine regulations for domestic transit has been shortened by an aggregate of 33 types of vegetable crops (e.g. rye, rice, barley, oats, corn).
• The new legislation has abolished compulsory certification of pesticides and agrochemicals, and has significantly simplified the procedure of their state testing.
• Terms of issuance of conformity certificates for organic products producers have been reduced from one month to five days, and certification procedure of organic products have been simplified. Besides, according to the De-Regulation Law,products, which have been certified in the EU as organic, do not require additional certification in Ukraine.
• The Deregulation Law also envisages shortening of the terms of issuance ofphytosanitary and quarantine certificates (from 5 days to 24 hours); cancellation of a number of requirements regarding obtaining of operating permits for milk and dairy products production facilities; abolishment of manufacturer’s quality certificates for fish farming products, conclusions of the state sanitary-epidemiological expertise for packaged drinking water, permits for import of animal products to Ukraine, etc.
• In the area of subsoil use, obligatory monitoring and scientific support in the field of the subsoil use, as well as permits for performance of industrial tests of trail models and prototype models of mining equipment and materials, have been abolished.

In addition to the above, the De-Regulation Law also introduces a number of simplifications into the land and real estate matters, which are described in our separate legal alert.