The European Business Association (EBA) asks the leadership of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the Ministry of Finance, the State Tax Service and the State Customs Services to resume the dialogue on the launch of the customs warehouse regime and accelerate the introduction of the necessary amendments to the regulatory legal acts, since for more than six years in Ukraine, the customs warehouse regime has not been fully operational due to bureaucratic red tape

"The launch of full-fledged operation of customs warehouses will unlock g the international logistics, transit, and trade potential of Ukraine. Besides, it will contribute to the formation of warehouses for the consolidation of goods for resale to EU markets," EBA Consumer Electronics Committee Manager Viktoria Kulykova has said.

Amendments are required, in particular, by automated accounting systems of customs declarations and exchange of information between regulatory authorities.

The customs warehouse regime allows companies to store goods under customs control without paying customs duties and non-tariff regulation measures for up to three years. Although the customs warehousing is enshrined in the Customs Code and its functioning is common international practice, unfortunately, Ukrainian business cannot take advantage of this regime as it does not work.

"The reason is that the declaration type IM-74 [customs warehouse] is not included in the list of customs declarations types used by banks to complete currency control over the operations of entrepreneurs. This, in turn, significantly complicates the business's ability to fully use the customs warehouse regime and store goods there for up to three years," the EBA has said.

"To do this, it is necessary to amend the Instruction approved by the resolution of the National Bank," the association has said.