On 02 December 2010 the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Law on General Safety of Non-Food Products No. 2736-VI (the "Law").

The Law sets out legal requirements for the supply of non-food products in Ukraine and the maintenance of their safety. The Law is aimed at introducing a transparent system of the manufacturers' and distributors' responsibility for the safety of the products they manufacture and/or distribute in Ukraine. The Law also purports to bring Ukrainian legislation into alignment with European standards regarding product safety requirements.

The main rules introduced by the Law are the following:

  • manufacturers (including national manufacturers, authorized representatives of foreign manufacturers and importers of foreign products) are obliged to supply only safe non-food products in Ukraine;
  • a product is considered to be safe if it is compliant with all applicable safety requirements set by the Ukrainian legislation, in particular national standards which have been harmonized with relevant European ones;
  • if there are no national standards for certain kinds of non-food product, the state authorities may take foreign standards into account for such products, provided they correspond with European or international ones;
  • manufacturers and distributors must comply with certain requirements regarding the safety of non-food products supplied by them into Ukraine (e.g. requirement to provide consumers with information on product safety that would enable them to evaluate the risks related to the use of such products);
  • manufacturers and distributors that violated the Law may be fined an amount of up to UAH 85,000 (approx. EURO 8,000) and forced to reimburse all the damages caused to consumers (users) of unsafe products; and
  • regulatory authorities may use measures to prevent circulation of unsafe products which include, among others: the (temporary or permanent) prohibition of supplying the product in Ukraine; withdrawal of the product from circulation in the Ukrainian market; and the recall of any products already supplied and their destruction.

The requirements of the Law shall not be applied to the supply and distribution of food products and food additives, pharmaceuticals, alcohol and tobacco products, narcotic products and precursors, used and antique products as well as some other non-food products.

The Law will come into force on 06 July 2011.

Law: Law of Ukraine on General Safety of Non-Food Products No. 2736-VI adopted by the Parliament of Ukraine on 02 December 2010.

This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq

Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.

The original publication date for this article was 01/02/2011.