IFC Convenes Conference to Help Reform the Technical Regulatory Environment for Business in Ukraine

Kyiv, Ukraine, April 2008—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has organized an international conference in Ukraine to address the challenges of reforming the country’s technical regulatory system. The event provided an opportunity for Ukrainian policymakers and the business community to draw on experiences and expertise from neighboring countries.

The conference, organized by the IFC Business Enabling Environment Project, brought together Ukrainian experts in technical regulation and their counterparts from Latvia, FYR Macedonia, and Poland. Other participants included representatives of the Ukrainian government, members of parliament, and the local business community. The main objective was to harness and transfer advice, best practice recommendations, and lessons learned to Ukrainian decision makers on the best approaches for reforming a complex technical regulation system.

Key issues addressed at the conference include standardization, conformity assessment, market surveillance, and consumer rights regulation. Among the highlights were presentations from international specialists on the regulatory environment in their respective countries prior to the reform process, actions taken by their governments to promote and enable reform, and the role and participation of the business community in designing and implementing reform and review processes.

The attendees agreed that there is an urgent need for Ukraine to reform its technical regulation system. The following priorities were identified:

- Making existing standards voluntary for the majority of products

- Reducing the number of product categories subject to mandatory certification and encouraging voluntary conformity assessment

- Reviewing and abolishing duplication among controlling authorities

- Introducing a risk-based system of market surveillance

- Harmonizing national standards with the European Union

“These are fundamental issues that must be addressed in the reform process. Much can be learned from the experience of our neighbors and those who have traveled this road recently,” commented Natalya Korolevskaya, Head of the Parliamentary Committee for Industrial and Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship.