{"id":787522,"date":"2025-12-15T11:51:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T09:51:57","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-12-22T10:05:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T08:05:59","slug":"informatsijna-dovidka-shhodo-zakonoproyektu-14245","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.eba.com.ua\/en\/informatsijna-dovidka-shhodo-zakonoproyektu-14245\/","title":{"rendered":"Information note on the draft law No. 14245"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"139\" data-end=\"524\">The European Business Association has analysed the provisions of Draft Law No. 14245 dated 25 November 2025, \u201cOn Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and Certain Other Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Enhancement of Control over the Production and Circulation of Tobacco Raw Materials\u201d, and draws attention to a number of systemic risks that may negatively affect business.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"526\" data-end=\"552\">Key business concerns:<\/p>\n<h4 data-start=\"554\" data-end=\"628\">Restrictions on competition and interference with market mechanisms<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"629\" data-end=\"1028\">The draft law provides for the introduction of a requirement to prioritise the use of tobacco raw materials of Ukrainian origin. Such an approach limits the freedom to choose suppliers, creates preferences for certain market participants, and contradicts the principles of a market economy. There is a risk of artificial price increases for raw materials and a rise in the cost of finished products.<\/p>\n<h4 data-start=\"1030\" data-end=\"1054\">Legal uncertainty<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"1055\" data-end=\"1253\">The concept of \u201cpriority use\u201d is not clearly defined and may be interpreted as a de facto obligation to use 100% domestically sourced raw materials, regardless of their quality or available volumes.<\/p>\n<h4 data-start=\"1255\" data-end=\"1337\">Non-compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine and competition legislation<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"1338\" data-end=\"1383\">The provisions of the draft law contradict:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"1338\" data-end=\"1383\">Article 42 of the Constitution of Ukraine on the protection of competition;<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1338\" data-end=\"1383\">the norms of the Law of Ukraine \u201cOn Protection of Economic Competition\u201d regarding the prohibition of anti-competitive actions by public authorities and the creation of discriminatory conditions for business entities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 data-start=\"1686\" data-end=\"1741\">Violation of Ukraine\u2019s international obligations<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"1742\" data-end=\"2005\">The proposed provisions are inconsistent with the EU\u2013Ukraine Association Agreement, the provisions of GATT 1994, and the WTO TRIMs Agreement, which prohibit the introduction of requirements for mandatory use of domestic raw materials as a condition of production.<\/p>\n<h4 data-start=\"2007\" data-end=\"2068\">Disregard for climatic, security, and production risks<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"2069\" data-end=\"2112\">The draft law does not take into account:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"2069\" data-end=\"2112\">climatic risks (droughts, floods, frost);<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2069\" data-end=\"2112\">potential force majeure circumstances under martial law;<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2069\" data-end=\"2112\">the specific requirements for cultivating and ensuring the quality of tobacco raw materials needed for industrial production.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"2351\" data-end=\"2463\">This creates a risk of production shutdowns in the event of a shortage of raw materials of the required quality.<\/p>\n<h4 data-start=\"2465\" data-end=\"2516\">Risks to product quality and competitiveness<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"2517\" data-end=\"2833\">International manufacturers use raw materials that meet strict quality standards (nicotine content, moisture levels, flavour characteristics, and combustion indicators). At present, there is no verified information confirming the ability to consistently meet these standards using domestically sourced raw materials.<\/p>\n<h4 data-start=\"2835\" data-end=\"2896\">Excessive regulatory burden and duplication of control<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"2897\" data-end=\"3285\">The draft law proposes the introduction of an additional system for the control and traceability of tobacco raw materials (labelling, GPS tracking, expansion of the e-Excise system, new registers), despite the fact that current legislation already provides for effective control mechanisms by the State Tax Service, including video surveillance, reporting requirements, and control posts.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3287\" data-end=\"3391\">The introduction of new requirements without assessing the effectiveness of existing instruments will:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"3392\" data-end=\"3430\">increase business operating costs;<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"3392\" data-end=\"3430\">lack identified sources of financing;<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"3392\" data-end=\"3430\">create risks to the continuity of production.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"3522\" data-end=\"3595\">If the draft law is adopted in its current wording, there is a risk of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"3522\" data-end=\"3595\">a reduction in domestic production of tobacco products;<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"3522\" data-end=\"3595\">job losses;<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"3522\" data-end=\"3595\">decreased tax revenues;<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"3522\" data-end=\"3595\">a shift of the market towards imports of finished products.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"3763\" data-end=\"4023\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">The European Business Association <strong>does not support Draft Law No. 14245 in its current form<\/strong> and calls for its revision, taking into account the position of the business community, the principles of a competitive economy, and Ukraine\u2019s international obligations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The European Business Association has analysed the provisions of Draft Law No. 14245 dated 25 November 2025, \u201cOn Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and Certain Other Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Enhancement of Control over the Production and Circulation of Tobacco Raw Materials\u201d, and draws attention to a number of systemic risks [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8406,"featured_media":699559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15564,15574],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-787522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lobbying-news-en","category-news-and-articles-from-association-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.eba.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.eba.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.eba.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.eba.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8406"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.eba.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.eba.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.eba.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.eba.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.eba.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.eba.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}