Formation of a unified regulatory space of the agricultural sector of Ukraine with the EU internal market: processes and problems

Abstract

The article is devoted to summarizing achievements and miscalculations in terms of the formation of a unified regulatory space of the domestic agricultural sector and the European internal market since the second half of the 2010s, as well as assessing the possibilities of achieving their full equivalence. It was established that the unified regulatory space is formed by the following components: technical regulation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, safety of food products and animal feed. The contribution of the components of technical regulation to the formation of a domestic regulatory system equivalent to the basic European system of technical regulation is assessed. It is argued that during the research period, the national fund of standards expanded significantly (more than 25,000 standards), and almost ¾ of them are harmonized with European and world standards. It is noted that the Program of the Development of the Reference Base has not been fully implemented as a result of Russian aggression, and the certification of safety and quality systems, products, processes and services and personnel is carried out only by accredited conformity assessment bodies (CABs). It has been found that the accreditation of domestic CABs is carried out by the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine, which in terms of accreditation interacts only with the signatories of international agreements on accreditation (EA MLA, ILAC MRA, IAF MLA). Since April 2016, state market surveillance has been carried out by the State Service of Food Safety and Consumer Protection. Special control regimes for manufactured products are based on the active implementation of certified safety and quality systems by producers of organic products and agricultural raw materials for the production of children's, dietary and special food products, as well as advanced management systems for the export of agricultural products to foreign markets. It has been established that Ukraine has ensured compliance with the European requirements of its own sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPM) in the field of agriculture and measures regarding the safety of food products and animal feed. This is evidenced by the following indicators: a total of 380 enterprises export agricultural products, of which 162 enterprises export food products. The fulfillment of the obligations stipulated by the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU has been systematized, which includes fulfilled obligations and intermediate results and totals 55 %. At the same time, the intermediate statuses of «Early» execution and «Advanced» execution are taken into account with weighting factors of 0.3 and 0.7, respectively. This assessment includes the following components: «perfect» performance is 30,4 %; «advanced» - 26.2 %; «early» stage – 21 %; fulfillment of obligations has not started – 20,8 %; the fulfillment of 1,6 % of the obligations has a critical inconsistency with the relevant norms of EU law. It was concluded that the activities related to the harmonization of domestic legal regulation of ensuring the quality and safety of products in agrofood chains to the practice of the European Union need to be intensified in order to complete it, as it will have a positive effect on the successful postwar recovery of the agricultural sector and the country as a whole. Key words: agricultural sector of Ukraine, EU internal market, unified regulatory space, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, food safety