15:27 29.03.2013

Opponents of special car duties trying to block their introduction via court

3 min read
Opponents of special car duties trying to block their introduction via court

The All-Ukrainian Association of Car Importers and Dealers (VAAID) following an appeal by partners of the Legato law firm, Oleksandr Velychko and Yuriy Fil, on the unlawfulness of the publishing of an announcement by the interagency commission for international trade on the introduction of special car imports duties (without the publication of the decision), plans to challenge the decision on the introduction of the special duties.

"If we have filed a claim against the decision of the interagency commission, this would mean that we recognize that a decision had been taken, although it was not fully published as Ukrainian law requires. On the other hand, VAAID intends to challenge the decision itself [when it is published] and it is preparing several claims," VAAID Director General Oleh Nazarenko said.

According to information in the state ruling register, the district court in Kyiv on March 25, 2013 opened proceedings in the case on the basis of an administrative claim of two individuals (Velychko and Fil) against the interagency commission for international trade to declare its actions illegal.

The preliminary court hearing is scheduled for April 11, 2013.

According to the administrative claim, a copy of which has been forwarded to Interfax-Ukraine, the petitioners ask the court to declare inactivity of the commission with regard to failing to publish the decision (on the introduction of the duties) illegal.

"We believe that the commission acted illegally: it did not publish the decision of the commission of April 28, 2013," reads the claim.

Taking this into account, the petitioners asked that the actions of the commission and the Economic Development and Trade Ministry on publishing the announcement on the decision be declared illegal.

As reported, on March 14, 2013, the government's Uriadovy Kurier newspaper published a decision of the Interagency Commission for International Trade approved on April 28, 2012, to introduce special duties on imports of new passengers cars with engines from 1,000 to 1,500 cubic centimeters at a rate of 6.46%, and cars with engines from 1,500 to 2,200 cubic centimeters at a rate of 12.95%, irrespective of the country of origin and export.

The initiators of the investigation were public joint-stock company Zaporizhia Automobile Plant, private joint-stock company Eurocar and subsidiary Automobile Assembly Plant 2 of Bogdan Motors Automobile Company.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said that the measure was temporary.

The EU Delegation to Ukraine said that the decision of the Ukrainian government to introduce increased import tariffs for most passenger cars imported into Ukraine creates a new trade barrier in a very sensitive sector and will be extremely damaging to EU car exports.

The EU called on Ukraine to cancel the decision.

According to VAAID, at a meeting of the WTO Council for Trade in Goods on March 25, 2013 the EU, the United States and Japan demanded that Ukraine is to postpone the decision or cancel it.

Economic Development and Trade Minister Ihor Prasolov said on March 27, 2013 that the government plans to improve guaranteed plans on production of Ukrainian-made cars with the introduction of the duties.

"The fall in car production in Ukraine is not linked to growth in imports. It first was linked to the cancelation of assembly of those foreign vehicles, which in 2008 were allegedly assembled in Ukraine and which entered the statistics of vehicle production in 2008, by the owners of Ukrainian automobile plants," reads the press release.

VAAID said that the fall in vehicle output is proportionally to the fall of the automobile market as a whole.

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