The American Chamber of Commerce believes that the actions of the Ukrainian parliament threaten agricultural exports

Draft laws No. 10168-2 and No. 10169-2 on amendments to the Tax and Customs Codes of Ukraine in terms of foreign economic operations for the export of certain goods, which were approved by the Verkhovna Rada in the first reading, pose a threat to the export of agricultural products from Ukraine. This opinion was expressed by experts of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. In their statement, it is said that such initiatives may cause the risk of interrupting the export of agricultural products from Ukraine, because they put exporters in difficult conditions and force them to go through discretionary tax and customs procedures.

The Ukrainian side promotes these innovations as a measure to reduce the illegal export of agricultural products from Ukraine by establishing certain criteria for exporters, as well as guarantees aimed at preventing exporters from violating the law and, in particular, the obligation to return foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine for exported products. But ATP believes that the new rules can slow down or completely stop exports. The draft law proposes to give the tax authority the ability to block exports, recognizing trade transactions as fictitious by its decision. This will lead to the fact that the responsibility for violations of the law will shift from the actual violators to the exporters.

According to the report, the introduction of an export duty as an additional and simpler means of regulating exports could lead to many exporters taking this route, potentially harming the domestic market and agricultural producers by reducing domestic purchase prices. Such innovations also create significant corruption risks and potential blocking of the export flow of agricultural products from Ukraine. In addition, these draft laws limit the possibility of VAT reimbursement, establishing a direct connection between the exporter's receipt of foreign exchange earnings and the possibility of receiving VAT compensation in the reporting month.

We would like to remind that the innovations propose to export agricultural products, in particular grain and oil products, only those companies that will pass the appropriate verification of the exporter, will not have tax debts and will observe currency control are allowed.