BY
In April
2014 an entry appeared highlighting the absence of preparation for the implementation of the
as then unsigned (let alone ratified) Association Agreement/DCFTA between the
EU and Ukraine as far as the Ukrainians were concerned.
A year later in
February 2015, post-signing (and ratification) of the agreement, the issue was revisited
noting the continuing lack of information to SMEs in particular when it came to
compliance with EU standards and assistance with EU market entry.
Both entries contained the following – “For those that are looking westward and desire greater integration, it
is surely time to show just how attainable that actually is – in practical and
tangible everyday ways.
One example was that of trade and Ukrainian
products that already meet EU standards.
Somewhere between 20 – 30% of Ukrainian products
already meet, and another 10% or so with simple changes to things like
packaging, would meet, EU standards (not to mention ISOs).
Thus EU standards are not only achievable but
have already been achieved by certain producers big and small across several
market sectors – and yet nobody has produced a consolidated list that
publicises what has already been achieved and is easily identifiable to a
Ukrainian public that also buys those products.
Why not?
Would it not show quite clearly that European
integration is not a pipe dream, but is something not only achievable, it is
actually underway in practical and tangible terms?
Is it not an easy public relations win,
psychologically fortifying for the believers, irrefutable for the detractors,
and also cheap to do?
Considering the tens of thousands of spam
commercial comments this blog gets advertising all and sundry each and every
year – why, in all the years it has been running, has there never once been a
comment offering/advertising a method of attaining EU standards?
Is there a campaign or programme to help
Ukrainian businesses over the compliance line?
If it is policy to talk the talk in an effort to
make Ukraine walk the walk – why is it that those that can be held up as
examples of success with regard European integration/standardisation aren’t?”
As of the time of writing, more than 2 years since the initial entry, and
almost 6 months after the Association Agreement/DCFTA became operational,
access to such information, actual assistance in compliance and market entry is
still, to be entirely blunt, nothing short of woeful for Ukrainian SMEs.
Undoubtedly that information is “out there” for those Ukrainian SMEs
prepared to spend a lot of effort finding it – and a lot of time then trying to
understand it. What does the “New European Approach” mean? Is
it a way of making EU regulation flexible toward innovation, and if so, how?.
How to create “conformity declarations”? When to involve an EU
“Notified Body”? Where to find an EU “Notified Body” if and when they
were required? What exactly are“Assumptions of conformity” and
liabilities if products fail?
Who has the primary responsibility in clarifying such issues (and many
others) for the bewildered Ukrainian SME? Does the Ukrainian government
have primary responsibility? Does the EU have at the very least a
requirement of goodwill, if not some responsibility, to effectively communicate
what needs to be done for those searching for, and reaching out for, that
needed assistance for EU standards compliance and market entry assistance?
Lo it has come to pass, almost 6 months since the DCFTA became operational,
and more than 2 years since this blog raised such basic preparatory questions,
that the Ukrainian Government, EU and EBRD signed an agreement whereby the EU
and EBRD will provide approximately EUR 28 million for business advice,
information, educational and other support to SMEs in Ukraine under EU4Business
program.
“The purpose of EU4Business initiative, to
support creating jobs in Ukrainian business by developing small and
medium-sized enterprises, new skills, and support their plans for the biggest
neighboring market exports, ie EU common market with over 500 million
consumers. We combine efforts with our long-term partner the EBRD in
order to significantly increase our support for small business in Ukraine and
to help various companies to use the opportunities that emerged as a result of
the creation of the DCFTA with the EU. We are determined to help local
companies to become the driving force of economic growth in the regions of
Ukraine and to compete successfully in world markets.” – EU
Ambassador Tombinsky 20th May 2016
Quite – but would it not have been more timely to have done this prior to
1st January when the agreement became operational?
How much further along the road of compliance, certification (where needed)
and preparation for market entry would many Ukrainian SMEs be if such
information and assistance had been accessible 2 years ago when such issues
were first raised by the blog when it was absolutely clear that the AA/DCFTA
would be signed posthaste by then President-in-waiting Poroshenko?
Perhaps there are good reasons for such a delay, though it is difficult to
identify any insofar as access (and promotion) of information and assistance is
concerned. (Financing/loans etc may be slightly different.)
Opening 2 new EBRD offices in Odessa and Kharkiv to compliment those in
Kyiv and Lviv is a very welcome step when it comes to disseminating much sought
after information, guidance, and funding access, as are the 15 (presumably
non-EBRD institution) business support centres across the nation also to be
financed. (Hopefully judicial reform and the prevalence of rule of law in
particular with regard to property rights will occur before SMEs benefitting
from the EU4Business programme become prey to “raiders” and other nefarious
interests/activities.)
Nevertheless, a reader may ponder why there is still no prominent and/or
promoted (to the point of annoying if necessary) on-line or TV campaign to
disseminate even the most basic information with regard to how and where to
find preparatory information/assistance before those looking to EU markets
begin darkening the doors of the two new EBRD offices, – or 15 business support
centres – with a business plan that is nothing short of being scribbled
hurriedly on the back of a cigarette packet and/or having absolutely no idea of
what they are to actually comply with (if anything) when turning up.
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