The Verkhovna Rada is not prepared to grant the State Customs Service of Ukraine (SCS) the authority to conduct operational and investigative activities when considering the draft of the new Customs Code, Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
"I believe that such a decision [granting law enforcement powers for the independent investigation of crimes within its area of responsibility] may be considered, but only after reform. Let them first earn the trust of the business community, and only then will we consider such decisions," the lawmaker said.
He noted that the government has already submitted the draft of the new Customs Code to parliament and plans to have it adopted by the end of this year. According to Hetmantsev, the first working group is currently being formed, and the document itself will undergo substantial revisions before both the first and second readings.
Commenting on the current work of the State Customs Service, the committee chairman stressed that tangible results in combating smuggling from the agency’s new leadership should not be expected for at least another six months. At present, the agency is meeting its targets, but the key performance indicators (KPIs) should be stable results and a significant reduction in smuggling volumes for specific categories of goods, including clothing, footwear, electronics and food products. Hetmantsev added that the Ministry of Finance has already been tasked with developing these KPIs.
As reported, the government registered the new Customs Code bill with the Verkhovna Rada on May 28. Its adoption is one of the conditions for Ukraine to receive the third tranche of macro-financial assistance under the European Union’s Ukraine Facility Loan, amounting to approximately EUR 1.45 billion.
The State Customs Service emphasized that the draft law consists of 781 articles. The text of the code was prepared by the Ministry of Finance to align national legislation with EU standards. The document incorporates the results of the European Commission’s assessment, after which 14 working meetings were held with European experts.
The main changes compared with current legislation include a full transition to EU customs terminology, the implementation of European approaches to decision-making, declarations, customs debt, guarantees and duty exemptions, as well as the introduction of an authorization system and customs procedures. At the same time, to ensure business continuity, indefinite authorizations will remain valid, while fixed-term authorizations will remain in effect until their expiration date or the completion of the relevant operations. In addition, one of the key innovations of the updated document is granting customs authorities law enforcement powers to independently investigate crimes within their area of competence.
Deputy Head of the State Customs Service Vladyslav Suvorov told Interfax-Ukraine that parliament will need time to review the draft of the new Customs Code.
"We understand that simply reading it, not to mention understanding how it functions, takes time. It will ultimately depend on parliament’s readiness to do that," he said.
As for KPIs, on May 26 the Verkhovna Rada rejected draft law No. 12360 on establishing key performance indicators for customs authorities, which also contained the necessary amendments to the Customs Code regarding the abolition of duty-free privileges for parcels.
