The 1,000-member European Business Association of Ukraine, or EBA, issued its semi-annual customs index on March 11, 2019, as well as the results of accompanying research. The index has not changed during the preceding half-year and stays at the level of 3.92 out of 5 points.
EBA and its research partner Gemius interviewed 90 customs experts from among the pool of EBA member companies. Speaking on the results of the research, Anna Derevyanko, EBA’s executive director, noticed that they “show sporadic improvement of the attitudes among specialists.” Derevyanko added that “expectations of the business community from the reforms are higher than the progress of the latter.”
On the positive side, the research mentions 51.1 percent customer satisfaction while using the “single window” approach for import clearance of goods at the customs. This is a significant improvement against 37.7 percent customer satisfaction in this category half a year ago.
On the negative side, there are imperfections in the system of phytosanitation and radiological controls, as well as burdensome checks of the goods imported in wooden packaging. Derevyanko also sites unexpected delays of more than four hours during customs clearance procedures. Such delays prevent companies to plan its operations efficiently.
The EBA has been running its customs index initiative since 2010.
