Amendments Promulgated Adjusting Food Safety Requirements to Internationally Harmonized Standards

Aug. 3, 2010 — The Uryadovy Kuryer newspaper published the Law “On Amending Some Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Issuance of Operating Permits.” The law, passed by Verkhovna Rada on July 6 and signed by President Yanukovych on July 26, 2010, is coming into force in 30 day of the publication.

“The law is adopted in order to bring the existing food safety requirements into sync with the state standards and food supervision requirements already harmonized with relevant international requirements,” the Presidential Press Service reported.

The report highlights that the law clearly specifies grounds for refusal of operating permits to entities engaging in food production and sale, thus increasing the transparency and effectiveness of food quality supervision.

In addition, the bureaucratic impact on the operating permit issuing process must be relieved due to the 30-day limit set by the law for permit decision-making, according to the report. The latter provision is hailed by USAID LINC experts, who have promoted it for several years.