Reform Index for June 24 – July 14, 2019 made up +0.3 points out of the potential range of -5.0 to +5.0. In the previous round the index was +0.5 points.
What happened during this round – procedure for government control in exporting countries and the law on vocational training.
Figure 1. The dynamics of Reform Index
Figure 2. The value of Reform Index and its components for current round of assessment
What happened in this round
Procedure for government control in exporting countries, +0.1 points
Having signed the Association Agreement, Ukraine undertook to ensure government control over food market operators in accordance with the EU standards. In the EU, these procedures are rather rigid as they concern the life and health of people. Food safety legislation has been amended significantly to harmonize it with the EU standards.
The law has been implemented consistently, new procedures and practices have been formed.
The Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 589 of July 05, 2019 has formalized the procedure of government control of food and feed of non-animal origin in Ukraine.
Expert commentary:
“The Decree lays down the procedure of government control in exporting countries pursuant to the law No. 2042-VIII of May 18, 2017. The established procedure is another step towards ensuring government control over food safety in compliance with the EU standards. The Decree fills in the gap in regulation and enables implementation of the law in this sphere.
Inspections are reserved for State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection which will, hopefully, be able to perform this function.
At the same time, increase of control creates more opportunities for abuse. The document itself contains a detailed description of terms, including terms for preliminary approval of inspection plan, terms for compiling the report, deadlines for preparing comments and publication of the report, which decreases the potential for abuse.
On the other hand, the Decree has references to other regulations. In particular, it says that government control inspection of exporting country can also include inspection of production facilities. The procedure of the latter (Order of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food No. 262 of June 11, 2018) foresees that production facilities inspection is conducted by “competent authority” without specification of the name of such authority and the terms for conducting such inspection. As a result, imperfections of related regulatory acts may hinder the implementation of this Decree.”
– Olha Nikolayeva, Foreign Trade Research Centre Trade+ affiliated with the Kyiv School of Economics
Law on Vocational Training, +0.1 points
Vocational training has not had clear statutory regulation. The Law On Higher Education of 2014 established that vocational schools could work within the system of higher education, yet in practice many issues were not properly regulated.
The Law 2745-VIII of June 06, 2019 solves this problem. It is a framework document which regulates various aspects of vocational schools operation. It introduces elements of corporate governance, the principles of electing president of educational institution and their time in office, state funding of such institutions etc.
The law foresees opportunities for further education of adults who have received secondary education and want to change their profession. For this to be implemented, the law stipulates that admissions be conducted not only on the basis of External Independent Evaluation but also tests run by vocational schools.
Table 1. Assessment of all the events and reform progress per direction
| State governance | 0.0 |
| State finances | +0.8 |
| Law on Vocational Training | +1.0 |
| Monetary system | 0.0 |
| Business environment | +0.5 |
| Procedure for government control in exporting countries | +1.0 |
| Power sector | 0.0 |
Figure 3. Values of separate components of the Index and the number of events
(See figures and tables at imorevox.in.ua)
Reform Index is trying to provide a comprehensive assessment of the efforts taken by the Ukrainian government to implement economic reforms. The index is based on expert assessment of changes in regulatory environment under five directions:
- State governance
- State finances
- Monetary system
- Business environment
- Power sector
To see more on the Index and calculation methodology, go to the web site reforms.voxukraine.org
Attention
The author doesn`t work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have no relevant affiliations
