WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/LIC/N/3/UKR/1 
1 October 2008 
 
 (08-4603) 
Committee on Import Licensing Original:   English 
  
 
REPLIES TO QUESTIONNAIRE ON IMPORT LICENSING PROCEDURE PROCEDURES
1 
 
Notification under Article 7.3 of the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures  
 
UKRAINE 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 25 September 2008, has been received from the delegation of the Ukraine.  
_______________ 
 
 
Ukraine applies the following systems for import licensing:   The system for import licensing, which is aimed at protecting life and health of 
people, animals and plants, at protecting th e environment from ozone-depleting substances 
(to comply with the requirements of the Montreal Protocol) as well as at ensuring the interests of national and international security. 
 The licensing system involving quotas set for imports of goods, which is aimed to 
apply safeguard measures. The safeguard measur es, under this system, are set forth pursuant 
to Law of Ukraine “On application of speci al measures to Ukraine’s imports” #332-XIV of 
22 December 1998 and pursuant to relevant Decisions of Ukraine’s Interagency Commission 
for international trade.  
 The system for import licensing, which is aimed at protecting life and health of 
people, animals and plants, at protecting envi ronment from ozone-depleting substances, as 
well as at ensuring the interests of national a nd international security, with the list of goods 
subject to this system being annually approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine 
 
Outline of system
 
 
1. Under this system and pursuant to Article 16 of Law of Ukraine "On foreign economic 
activities" of 16.April 1991 #959- ХІІ (with relevant changes and additions) the list of goods 
importation of which is subject to licensing is to be  approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine 
based on the submission of the central executive government body for economic policy issues (the 
Ministry of Economy) by way of adopting annual resolutions. 
 The list of goods importation of which is s ubject to licensing in 2008 is approved by the 
resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Uk raine # 1411 of 29 December 2007 (as amended). 
  The form of licensing of imports can be either automatic or non-automatic. 
                                                     
 
1 See document G/LIC/3, Annex, for the Questionnaire. G/LIC/N/3/UKR/1 
Page 2  
 
   
 Automatic import licensing is defined as an administrative procedure for preparing and 
issuing a license that does not have a restrictive im pact on imports of goods subject to licensing.  
  The goods falling under the system of automatic  licensing are specified in section 2 below.  
 
 Non-automatic import licensing is defined as an  administrative procedure for preparing and 
issuing a license, which is used in case of appli cation of quotas, quantitative or other restrictions on 
imports of goods.  
Presently Ukraine does not import goods under the re gime of non-automatic licensing (that is 
it does not apply quantitative restrictions). 
 Importation of goods is licensed regardless of what country is its exporting country. 
 
Purposes and covering of licensing
 
 
2. Under this system, pursuant to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine #1411 of 
29 December 2007, the following imports are subject to licensing in 2008:  
Imports Subject to Licensing  
Insecticides (except for veterinary drugs), 
rodenticides, fungicides, herbicides, anti-sprouting products and plant-growth regulators, disinfectants (except for veterinary drugs) and similar products  3808 10, 3808 20, 3808 30, 3808 90 
(excluding individual consignments shipped in free-of-charge based on the permission of the Ministry of ecology exclusively for purposes of government testing and science and 
research) 
Unused postage, revenue or similar stamps of current 
or new issue in the country to which they are destined; stamp-impressed paper; banknotes; cheque forms; stock, share or bond certificates and similar documents of title 4907 00 10 00, 4907 00 90 10, 4907 00 90 90 
Copper sulphate 2833 25 00 00 
Cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose, in 
solid form 1701  
Sugar syrups not containing added flavouring or 
colouring matter 1702 19 00 00, 1702 20 90 00, 1702 30 59 00, 
1702 30 99 00 (except for starch molasses), 1702 40 90 00, 1702 60 95 00, 1702 90 99 00  
Chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa 1806 10 20 00, 1806 10 30 00, 1806 10 90 00  
Flavoured or coloured sugar syrups 2106 90 30 00, 2106 90 59 00  
Printing ink, writing or drawing ink and other inks, 
whether or not concentrated or solid, specified under the methodology established by the Ministry of 
finance and the State Customs Service, having 
protective properties, specifically:  fluorescent or colour changing in ultraviolet light,  colour changing when heated or cooled,  reacting to polarizing or non-polarizing solvents and 
oxidants invisible in infrared light, penetrating to the 
flip side of paper and changing colour 3215 11 00 00 
3215 19 00 00   G/LIC/N/3/UKR/1 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Imports Subject to Licensing  
Paper not whitened with water marks without fibre 
obtained mechanically, or in which such fibre mount 
to not more than 10 percent by weight of the total fibre with density of 40 grams or more per square 
meter  4802 55 
4802 56 
4802 57 00 4802 58 4802 61 4802 62 00 
4802 69 00  
Optical polycarbonates for laser reading systems  3907 40 00 00 
Machinery for manufacture of disks for laser reading 
systems:  
injection-moulding machines for disk manufacture 
press-moulds for thermoforming machines for injection moulding of disks matrixes or moulds containing data necessary to mould disks  
 
8477 10 90 00 
8480 71 90 90 8524 91 00 00 8524 99 10 00 8524 99 90 00 
Ozone depleting substances  Based on the list specified in Appendix 12 
Products that may contain ozone-depleting 
substances  Based on the list specified in Appendix 22 
 
3. Importation of goods is licensed regardless of what countries export them. 
 Licensing of import of goods specified in Appendices 1 and 2 is carried out in conformity 
with requirements of the Montreal Protocol.   
4. The system for licensing of imported goods is not  intended for restricting quantity or value of 
import. 
The goals of licensing are to: 
• protect life or health of people, animals and plants; 
• protect environment from ozone-depleting substances; 
• ensure the interests of national and international security. 
5. Licensing of foreign economic transactions is pr ovided for under Law of Ukraine “On foreign 
economic activities” of 16 April 1991 #959- ХІІ as amended. Under Article 16 of Law of Ukraine “On 
foreign economic activities”  of 16 April 1991 #959- ХІІ, a decision to apply the regime of licensing of 
importation of goods is to be adopt ed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine based on the submission 
of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.  
 The Ministry of Economy annually specifies the list of goods and the period of effect of the 
regime of licensing for every specific category of goods subject to this regime.  
 
 The list of goods importation of which is s ubject to licensing in 2008 is approved by 
Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine # 1411 of 29.12.2007 (as amended).   The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine may a bolish a regime of licensing of importation of 
goods during the year in question provided that th e goals of the regime have been achieved. 
 
                                                     
 
2 Available for consultation in the Secretar iat (Market Access Division)(English only). G/LIC/N/3/UKR/1 
Page 4  
 
  Procedures
 
 
6. For the system of licensing in question there are no such products, which means that there are 
no quantitative restrictions for import of goods in 2008. 
7. (a) In case of application of the regime of au tomatic licensing a period for issuing a license may 
not exceed 10 workdays from the date of receipt of an application (Article 16 of Law of 
Ukraine “On foreign economic ac tivities” of 16 April 1991 #959- ХІІ). 
In the event of application of the regi me of non-automatic licensing, a period for 
consideration of such applications may not exceed  30 days following the date of receipt of the 
applications, provided that applications are revi ewed in the order of their filing, and may not 
exceed 60 days following the end of the announced  period for submission of applications, if 
all applications are reviewed at the same ti me (Article 16 of Law of Ukraine “On foreign 
economic activities” of 16 April 1991 #959- ХІІ).  
 A license may be issued within the shortest  term possible and depending only on technical 
capacity of the relevant competent body.  
(b) A license may be issued within the shortest  term possible and depending only on technical 
capacity of the relevant competent body.  
(c) There are no restrictions regarding a period of the year during which it is allowed to file an 
application for a license. 
(d) Under Article 16 of Law of Ukraine “On foreign economic activities” of 16 April 1991   
#959- ХІІ, consideration of applications is to be carried out by the Ministry of Economy of 
Ukraine or, within the limits of the delegated powers–by relevant regional bodies, specifically 
by the Ministry of Economy of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, by the respective departments of Oblast, Kyiv and Sevastopil municipal state administrations that carry out issuance of licenses for importation of products by subjects of entrepreneurial activities who 
are registered in respective regions and who se declared value of goods under the agreements 
(contracts) does not exceed US$300 000 (Order of the Ministry of Economy of 14 September 
2007 #302 "On approval of the regulatory–legal  acts concerning licensing of imports of goods 
and amendments to the Procedure for the processing of applications for issuance of licenses in 
the sphere of non-tariff regulation of foreign economic activities in the Ministry of Economy 
of Ukraine"). 
Applications shall not be submitted to other bodies for approval, commenting or endorsement.  
At the same time to obtain a license for importation of particular categories of goods
, under 
this system of licensing, an importer will be requi red to obtain an approval in one of the relevant 
administrative bodies (pursuant to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine #1411 of 29 December  2007).  
Such approvals (expert conclusions) are issued , depending on the category of products, by the 
following agencies:  G/LIC/N/3/UKR/1 
 Page 5 
 
 
  Agencies  
Central government inspectorate for plant 
protection (within the Ministry of government policy of Ukraine) Import of chemical substances for plant protection  
(Codes 3808 10, 3808 20, 3808 30)  
The state technological centre for protection of soil fertility (within the Ministry of government policy of Ukraine) Import of agrichemicals (plant growth regulators – 
code 3808 90) 
Ministry of finance of Ukraine Import of  postal stamps, duty stamps or similar 
stamps, stamp-impressed paper (codes 4907 00 10 
00, 4907 00 90 10, 4907 00 90 90); Import of print ink specified in accordance with the methodology established by the Ministry of finance and the State Customs Service, having protective properties (codes 3215 11 00 00, 3215 19 00 00 ); 
import of not whitened paper with water marks 
(codes 4802 55,4802 56,4802 57 00,4802 58,4802 61,4802 62 00,4802 69 00)  
Ministry of environmental protection of Ukraine  Import of ozone-depleting substances and products 
that may contain ozone – depleting substances  
(codes according to Annexes 1 and 2)  
 
8. An application shall not be accepted if the set of documents accompanying it is incomplete. If 
a set of accompanying documents filed with the appli cation is complete, then the application shall be 
accepted immediately. 
An application may not be rejected in the even t of insignificant errors in the documents filed 
for the purpose of obtaining a license, provided that such errors do not alter the principal data contained in the application. The principal data are data specified in provisions of the foreign 
economic agreement (contract). 
If necessary documents are submitted and if  these documents meet the established 
requirements, then issuance of the license may not be denied.  
 
Reasons to refuse to issue a license may include: 
- Submission of documents that fail to meet  the requirements concerning completeness 
of a set of documents to be filed; 
- Submitted documents are inconsistent  with legislation of Ukraine; 
- The quota set for the goods in question is exhausted (in the event of application of the 
procedure for non-automatic licensing); 
- Imposition on the subject of foreign economic ac tivities, or on his foreign partner, of a 
special sanction in the form of temporar y suspension of foreign economic activities 
pursuant to Article 37 of Law of Ukra ine "On foreign economic activities";  
- Actions of the subject of foreign economic activities that result in violation of 
international obligations assumed by Ukraine;  
- Violation by the subject of foreign economic activities or his foreign partner of 
legislation of Ukraine in the sphe re of foreign economic activities. G/LIC/N/3/UKR/1 
Page 6  
 
  A decision to refuse to issue a license must be s ubstantiated, passed within the terms set for 
review of applications, and must sent (handed) to the applicant in writing. 
A decision to refuse the issue of a license  may be appealed by the subject of entrepreneurial 
activity to the district administrative court with th e jurisdiction over the place of the state registration 
of the subject of entrepreneurial activity (plainti ff) in conformity with provisions of the Code of 
Administrative Proceedings of Ukraine.  
 
Eligibility of importers to apply for licence
 
 
9. All subjects of foreign economic activities, rega rdless of ownership form, have the right to 
file applications for issue of  a license for imports of goods both under the automatic, and non-
automatic regime of licensing.  
 There is no such system for registration of in dividuals or firms. Accordingly, there is no 
registration fee. There is no list of approved importers. 
 Documentational and other requireme nts for application for a licence
 
 
10. Information that must be specified in appli cations for an import license is determined in 
accordance with the application form (the sample application form in pr ovided in Appendix 3).3 
An application for a license must contain the fo llowing information: full name of the subject 
of foreign economic activities, full name of its ma nager, description and co de of the good (goods) 
under Ukrainian classification of goods of forei gn economic activities (UKT ZED), name of the 
consumer of the good (goods), code and name of th e state (states) of origin and exportation, quantity 
and value of the good (goods), code  and name of the and customs point, full names and addresses of 
the seller and customer, nature of the contract, cu rrency of payment, principal and additional unit of 
measurement for the good (goods), approval of executive bodies (if required), basis for request for a 
license, special terms of the license (if exist). 
To obtain a license for importation of goods, the list of which is established by the Cabinet of 
Ministers of Ukraine, it is necessary to su bmit the following documents accompanying the 
application: 
- a letter requesting a license and guaranteeing pa yment of the state fee for the issuance 
of the license; 
- a copy of a foreign economic activity contr act, all annexes and specifications for this 
contract, certified by the manager of the subject of entrepreneurial activity and verified with his seal; 
- a copy of the state registration certificate as the subject of entrepreneurial activity  
certified by the manager of the subject of en trepreneurial activity and verified with his 
seal; 
- if required – approval of the relevant authorized agency (please refer to the answer in 
section 5d).  
11. At the time of actual importation the following documents are required: 
- foreign economic agreement (contract); 
- shipment customs declaration; 
                                                     
 
3 Available for consultation in the Secretar iat (Market Access Division)(English only).  G/LIC/N/3/UKR/1 
 Page 7 
 
 
  - certificate of origin; 
- import license. 
12. A fee is administered for the issue of an impor t license in the amount which is based on actual 
costs relating to the application of the licensing procedure, specifically: 
- 220 UAH (approximately US$45) - under the regime of automatic licensing; 
- 780 UAH (approximately US$160) - under the regime of non-automatic licensing. 
 (Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of  Ukraine #362 of 18 May 2005 "On establishing the 
amount of the fee for the issue of export (import) licenses").   When an application for an import license is file d, no proof of payment of the fee is required.  
 
 A document confirming payment of the fee is submitted at the time of issue of the license.  13. There is no requirement to make a deposit or an advance payment to be issued an import 
license.  
Conditions of licensing
 
 
14. A license is issued for a term that does not pr event the subject of foreign economic activities 
from importing, including from importation from distant places, and is consistent with the terms of the foreign economic activity agreement (contract). A license is valid for purposes of customs clearance 
of the goods during its term. In practice the license is i ssued for the term not longer than the rest of the 
current year. 
 Licenses for importation of goods, which were not  used in the previous year, usually are 
extended for 2 months and remain valid until the 1
st of March of the following year. This provision is 
implemented by annual resolutions of the Cabinet of  Ministers of Ukraine at the time of approval of 
the lists of goods importation of which is subject to licensing in the respective year. 
 
15. No penalties are imposed for a failure to  use a license or part of a license. 
16. Licenses are not transferable between importers. 
 Other conditions accompanying issuance of licenses are: 
 
• submission of a document verifying payment of the fee for a license; 
• submission of a power of attorney, or of a copy of a power of attorney authorizing 
receipt of a license, and submission of a document identifying the person receiving 
the license if the license is i ssued to the authorized representative of the subject of 
entrepreneurial activity. 
 
Other procedural requirement  
 
17. There are no administrative procedures prior to importation other than the licensing procedure 
for importation of goods specified in section 2 (a nd if necessary prior receiving of approval of 
relevant administrative bodies specified in section 7d). 
18. Payments for goods that are being imported are made pursuant to terms and conditions of the  
foreign economic agreement (contract) between a s ubject of foreign economic activities of Ukraine G/LIC/N/3/UKR/1 
Page 8  
 
  and a foreign subject of business activity. Payments  are carried out through the authorized banks 
(banks which have received the general license from the National Bank to engage in currency 
transactions) in currency specified in the forei gn economic agreement (contract). If the amount of 
foreign currency in the account of an importer in the authorized bank is l ess than needed, then the 
bank, acting under the instruction of the importer,  will purchase currency at the inter-bank currency 
market of Ukraine. 
A procedure for obtaining a license does not have any connection to the obtaining of foreign 
currency. 
 Importer’s solvency is not related in any way to his having an import license.  
 
Possession of currency by the importer depends on the results of its business (export) 
activity. 
 If necessary, foreign currency is purchased at the inter-bank currency market of Ukraine.  
 
 Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine of 10 August 2005 #281 “On 
approval of the regulatory – legal acts of the Nationa l Bank of Ukraine” (as amended) provides a basis 
for purchasing foreign currency at  the inter-bank currency market of Ukraine for payments to non-
residents in connection with trade transactions.  
 Under this Resolution, a purchase of forei gn currency for purposes of payments to non-
residents in connection with trade transactions is carried out on the basis of the following documents: 
 
- application for a purchase of foreign currency; 
- agreement with a non-resident prepared  in accordance with requirements of the 
existing legislation of Ukraine; 
- shipment customs declaration (if the goods are shipped in the territory of Ukraine); 
- delivery-acceptance act or other document  certifying provision of services or 
performance of works; 
- documents required for the documentary fo rm of payments (letter of credit, 
encashment). 
 The system of licensing using quotas for imported goods, which are established under 
separate Decisions of the Interagency Commi ssion of Ukraine for international trade 
 
 Under the Law of Ukraine “On foreign economic activities” #959- ХІІ of 16 April 1991, 
quantitative restrictions on imports under this syst em are applied to goods with respect to which 
Interagency commission for international trade has a dopted a decision to apply safeguard measures in 
accordance with Law of Ukraine “On application of  special measures with respect to imports to 
Ukraine” #332-XIV of 22 December 1998. Quota-based  regulation of imports is implemented by way 
of issuance of special licenses. The total amount of import under such licenses may not exceed the 
established quota.   
 Importation of goods specified by Decision of the Commission is carried out on the basis of 
special licenses issued by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.   
This system of import licensing has not been applied since 2006 and is not applied presently. 
___________