Today, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has accepted the draft law “On Amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses to Eliminate Discrimination against the Shipper for Violation of Weight Control Requirements" (No. 6222).

Ukraine Agri Council experts have been actively working on the law.

The document establishes a fair approach to prosecution for violations of overall weight and terminates the double responsibility of entities that are both a carrier and a consignor.

Before the adoption of draft law No. 6222, the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses has established a different approach to bringing the carrier and the consignor to prosecute. The carrier could be brought to justice for exceeding the legal limit by 5% or more while the consignor would become responsible for any exceedance of the limit, even a small one.

In practice, especially during the transportation of agricultural products from harvest sites, the carrier’s driver  can estimate the full weight of the car with an approximate error of 5%. After all, as a rule, due to the lack of appropriate technical means, the cargo is not weighed in the field. In addition, when freighting, the total weight of the car may increase (refueling, loading with other cargo). That is not affected by the shipper in any way, but he can be fined.

Henceforth, there will be no fines for the consignor for exceeding the limit norms of overall weight control up to 5%.

For an excess of more than 5 percent, the amount of fines is balanced and set at the same level as for the carrier.

Also, the new law terminated the possibility of double prosecution for the same violation if the carrier and the consignor are the same person.