Ukraine: New general product safety law

 

Ukraine has published a new product safety law. It is called Draft Law of Ukraine “On the General Safety of Non-Food Products.

This draft Law establishes essential rules on the safety of non-food products intended for consumers that are placed on the market or made available on the market of Ukraine.

This draft Law applies to products placed on the market or made available on the market in Ukraine with respect to safety requirements that are not covered by specific legislative acts (including technical regulations) governing the safety of such products.

This draft Law does not apply to:

• services and works;
• medicinal products and veterinary medicinal products;
• food products;
• live plants and animals, genetically modified organisms and genetically modified microorganisms used in contained use, as well as products of plant and animal origin directly related to their future reproduction;
• animal by-products and derived products;
• plant protection products;
• equipment used for the transport or movement of consumers, where such equipment is directly operated by the provider of transport services supplied to consumers and is not operated by the consumers themselves;
• aircraft falling within the categories specified by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the basis of the relevant legislation of the European Union;

The draft Law, in particular, provides for:

• expanding and further specifying the list of economic operators. In addition to the previously defined categories of “manufacturer”, “authorised representative”, “importer”, “distributor”, and “consumer”, the draft introduces such categories as “economic operator”, “seller”, “fulfilment service provider” and “online marketplace provider”;
• establishing clear obligations for manufacturers, importers, distributors and operators of online marketplaces to ensure the safety of non-food products placed on the market or made available on the market;
• establishing an effective product traceability system throughout all stages of the supply chain, enabling rapid response to identified risks and the withdrawal and recall of unsafe products from the market;
• introducing specific requirements for distance sales and online platforms, including obligations to identify and remove or disable access to unsafe products offered online;
• improving market surveillance mechanisms of non-food products, promoting the use of digital tools and the exchange of information on unsafe products, as well as establishing a national digital portal on the safety of non-food products;
• establishing the liability of economic operators for breaches of product safety requirements.

The obligations of importers with regard to the placing of products on the market are set out in Article 12 of the draft Law.

The draft Law provides that, for a period of three years from its entry into force, the placing on the market of products that comply with the requirements of the Law of Ukraine No. 2736-VI “On General Product Safety” of 2 December 2010 and that were placed on the market before the entry into force of this Law shall not be prohibited or restricted solely on the grounds that such products do not comply with the requirements of this Law.

Upon the adoption and entry into force of this Law, the Law of Ukraine No. 2736-VI “On General Product Safety” of 2 December 2010 shall be repealed.

The law is partly based on the Regulation (EU) 2023/988 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 on general product safety.

To find out more about product compliance and product safety, do not hesitate to contact the Product Compliance Institute directly.