The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is working on changes to the rules and procedures for exporting agricultural products for 12 types of goods to fight against illegal market and stimulate the return of foreign exchange earnings. The main changes were discussed during a meeting of the Coordination Headquarters on Logistic issues under the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine on October 31, 2023.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, the Ministry of Recovery, the State Customs Policy, the State Tax Service, agricultural associations, traders, exporters and farmers.

According to the draft amendments, the right to export agricultural products will be granted to:

• entities that have received an export license, included in the list, in accordance with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1466 as of December 27, 2022 and the Order of the Ministry of Economy No. 207 of January 12, 2023;
• verified exporters included in the list in accordance with the CMU resolution.

Criteria for including an applicant in the list of verified exporters:

• must be a VAT payer as of February 23, 2022 and as of the date of the verification request. To do this, the exporter must indicate the VAT payer code in the State Agrarian Register (further, automatic verification takes place).
• no tax debt on the payment 21081000 "Penalty for violation of the terms of payments in the field of foreign economic activity" (automatic verification);
• no violations of currency supervision. To confirm this fact, the exporter uploads a scan of a letter from the bank to the State Agrarian Register (SAR), and the bank sends a copy of the letter to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy (the letter can be obtained from the bank with confirmation of the return of foreign exchange earnings under at least one successful contract);
• not to have an act of the State Tax Service on non-establishment of location (automatic verification);
• not be in a state of bankruptcy or liquidation.

The following algorithm of actions is proposed for verification:

• to be registered in the SAR;
• receive a letter from the bank confirming that there are no violations of currency control;
• apply to the SAR for the status of a verified exporter. Specify the VAT payer code and attach a scanned copy of the letter from the bank.

The decision will be received within 3 business days.

On November 1, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers has to publish the relevant resolution. It will come into force within 10 days. Until the resolution comes into force, exports will be carried out in accordance with the current rules. During this time, suppliers of 12 types of goods to foreign markets will be asked to verify themselves as exporters in the SAR. It is worth noting that the upcoming changes in the rules for exporting agricultural products apply only to exporters. Nothing will change for domestic sales of agri-food products. Also, as previously announced, the period for returning foreign currency earnings will be reduced from 180 to 90 days.