The Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine recently proposed the establishment of the State Service for Disease Control of Ukraine by reorganizing the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection (SSUFSCP). The Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs (SUP) opposes the initiative of the Ministry to reorganize the SSUFSCP.
Why?
Firstly, the scope of responsibility of the SSUFSCP is much wider and includes veterinary medicine, quarantine and plant protection, seed production and nursery, state supervision in the field of agro-industrial complex and of compliance with legislation on consumer protection, etc.
Secondly, the initiative entrusts the Ministry of Economy with functions that are not inherent to the State Service for Disease Control of Ukraine. The creation of a new service by reorganizing the existing one may lead to the impossibility of performing these functions, as there will be no competent body within the Ministry of Economy.
Thirdly, the reorganization proposed in a short time and without wide discussion creates unpredictable conditions for doing business and requires adaptation to new regulatory approaches. This, in its turn, creates a risk of slowing down export-import operations and trade in the domestic market.
According to the SUP the initiated changes threaten the stability of work of many sectors of the economy, in particular agriculture, seed production, retail trade, and consumer goods. In addition, it is inappropriate to remove the scope of safety and certain indicators of food quality from the Ministry of Economy which is the relevant central executive body for the food industry.
In difficult and changing quarantine conditions for business this will be an additional aggravating factor, therefore the Union opposes the reorganization of the SSUFSCP.
The SUP together with other business associations have already appealed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine to reject the initiative of the Ministry of Healthcare and to keep the current structure of the SSUFSCP under the Ministry of Economy.
