The Steering Committee for the development of the new Customs Code of Ukraine has approved the timeline for the preparation and adoption of the document.
“We plan to complete the drafting of the new Customs Code of Ukraine based on the EU Customs Code by the end of April and expect its final approval by the Parliament in January 2026,” said Deputy Minister of Finance Yuriy Draganchuk, outlining the prospects for the European integration of Ukrainian customs legislation at a meeting of the Steering Committee for the development of the new Customs Code of Ukraine.
The development of a new Customs Code of Ukraine based on the EU Customs Code is a key recommendation for Ukraine in the EU Enlargement Report published last autumn. The progress made until September 1 will be included in the 2025 report and will influence the current assessment of Ukraine’s readiness to join the EU.
“The Customs Code is the foundation of the customs union and without appropriate customs legislation, accession to the EU is impossible. Therefore, the preparation of the new Customs Code is now a priority for the State Customs Service. We are making every effort to complete the first version of the Customs Code as soon as possible and expect to start discussing it with the public in early May,” said Vladyslav Suvorov, Deputy Head of the State Customs Service.
According to Tomasz Michalek, DG TAXUD representative, the EU is expecting full harmonisation of the customs legislation of Ukraine and the EU, as the EU Customs Code will be directly applied the day after the accession. He confirmed DG TAXUD’s continued willingness to provide the Ukrainian side with technical advice (in particular on terminology) and expertise on the documents developed, as well as information on current changes to the EU Customs Code.
Vytenis Alisauskas, EU4PFM International Key Expert on Customs Reform, noted the progress in the development of the new Customs Code and highlighted the following 3 key milestones expected from the Ukrainian side: the readiness of the text for translation, the submission of the document by the Government to the Verkhovna Rada and the expected date of adoption by the Parliament.
“We plan to complete the preparation of the text in April and start its translation in May, which will be submitted to DG TAXUD experts for evaluation in June. We plan to submit it to the Parliament until August 31. In October, we will ask MPs to adopt it as a basis, after which we will start preparing for the 2nd reading so that the new Customs Code is ready to be adopted as a law in January 2026. After that, we will wait for the EU’s assessment of the new law. In the meantime, we will be working on bylaws. Our goal is to have fully compliant customs legislation in Ukraine in 2027. We are ready for such an ambitious approach,” said Oleksandr Moskalenko, Director of the Customs Policy Department of the Ministry of Finance.
This timeline was approved by the Steering Committee for the preparation of the new Customs Code of Ukraine based on the EU Customs Code.
The drafting process started in March 2024 and is aimed at meeting the requirements for Ukraine as a candidate country for EU membership. For this purpose, 15 working groups have been formed, which include representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the State Customs Service, experts from the EU Public Finance Management Support Programme for Ukraine (EU4PFM) and the Reform Support Team under the Ministry of Finance. (Government portal)