- During the development of the state system of export control, what steps have been taken to control the sale of commodities that fall under export control regimes and at the same time strengthen national producers’ positions on the world market?

    - Efficient control over the export of sensitive goods and strengthen national producers‘ positions in this sphere are not such contradictory tasks. The overwhelming majority considers export controls as a system of restrictions. But this is not correct. Export control is a system of rules that are indeed much stricter than the rules of general trade. However all civilized and developed countries abide by those rules. The necessary legal base is currently in place for the development of the national system of export controls. This has allowed Ukraine to become a full member of all international export control regimes (except for the Australia Group). Participation in regimes is not an end in itself of course. The main thing is that we receive rights to full and equal cooperation with developed countries.

    Following from international requirements and national interests, the state system of export controls is continually undergoing improvement. This year the President‘s decrees amended the work of export controls. In particular, the Commission on Export Control Policy and Military and Technical Cooperation in the National Security and Defense Council was established. It gave the opportunity to normalize the decision making process, which on the interagency level earlier had various difficulties. Is also lessens the time required for solving problems in the sphere of military or technical cooperation which in turn, exerts positive influence on the export capacity and competitiveness of our defensive complex.

    The presidential decrees also established the legal basis for the work of the State Commission on Military and Industrial Policy. Both these structures – one attached to the National Security and Defense Council and another to the government – create a chain of organizations that will concur in the system of military and technical cooperation. This chain is inseparably connected with export controls - from the initiative of enterprises in the military-industrial complex to the conclusion of a specific contract and its implementation.

    Of course, changes in the government were accompanied by appropriate changes in work at SSEC. We have essentially changed the structure of the Service. A new department was established to provide support to Ukraine’s participation in multilateral international regimes and assist in policy formulation. The specialists in this department follow all current processes connected with enactment of obligations from all active regimes. They compile information from all ministries and departments on how this or that requirement or innovation affects national interests and develop suggestions for Ukrainian official position on this or that problem. The second change at SSEC is connected with the fact that Ukraine is often accused of arms sales to unstable regions, despite the fact that those accusations have not been verified. They are meant to discredit Ukraine as a civilized supplier of weapons. Thus, a special department was established to analyze the sphere of weapon business and sensitive technologies. This department must provide our exporters with recommendations on international and political liabilities of Ukraine.

    The third change is completely analytic and connected with the analysis of our activity, and the peculiarities of export policy. The department’s task is to develop recommendations concerning further improvement of the state export controls system.

    Certain sub-units at SSEC were also strengthened. They are responsible for making infringements of the law impossible and for conducting inspection check-ups with the purpose of verifying of all requirements stated in the contract – especially concerning the end-use of sensitive items.

    - But such check-ups are only possible when there are agreements and arrangements between the exporting and importing countries, otherwise it would be rather difficult to trace the end-use of the commodity…

    - This can be solved in two ways. During preparations of contracts, obligations can be included and as we know, contracts are international documents by which exporters and importers take on certain liabilities (in particular, to permit such check-ups). Secondly, verification of contracts is accomplished with other agencies in our country.

    - What is the status of the development of internal export controls systems at enterprises? It is known that this problem is considered a top priority.

    - It is impossible to imagine the development of the state export controls system without the creation and development of internal compliance structures at the enterprise-level. These structures should have a detailed understanding of export policy for sensitive goods and technologies and be familiar with all details concerning legal issues and document preparation. Many of our enterprises already work in compliance with the state export control system’s requirements. The system does not put obstacles in the way – if you do everything in accordance with the regulations, there are no delays in obtaining permits and licenses. The development of internal departments is necessary but at the same time – a very laborious and time-consuming process. By the way, it is the effective work of internal export controls departments that help the enterprise enter the international market with export controlled goods. All enterprises that obtained that right this year have effective and experienced internal compliance departments.

    - How much time does it take to obtain a permit or written refusal of permit. In Russia, it takes 20 days. Are we able to do the same?

    - I must say that it is a mistake to measure everything only by time parameters. The time varies depending on whether the transaction involves our traditional foreign trading partners and consumers or involves a brand new importer. Taking into account all structural changes, the experience of the last six months shows that the majority of decisions on typical contracts are issued by SSEC in 5-10 days, assuming that the enterprise has provided all necessary documentation.

    - What is the correlation between the amount of permits and refusals on the execution of contracts?

    - One of our basic tasks is to teach our exporters how to enter and work in the world market and even when we receive an incomplete list of documents, we do not refuse to examine an application. The specialists at SSEC accept those applications and try their best to help exporters do everything properly, often via written letters and explanations. Of course this is an additional burden for SSEC that could be eliminated. However, this is necessary if we intend to have highly skilled export control professionals at the enterprises. It is important to note that the primary problems at our enterprises are the underestimation of the requirements or the lack of knowledge of the legislative base. For example, take a simple document – an end-use certificate. People who are concluding contracts need to sign this document but strangely enough, many enterprises simply forget. This is often the reason why they can not obtain the needed permit on a timely basis. Although, very often factories are overcautious and submit applications to SSEC for international transfer of commodities that are not subject to export control.

    - Is there any threat that those enterprises that did not obtain a permit would turn to unauthorized export?

    - In that case we are talking about smuggling. This activity falls under the Criminal Code that is extremely strict when it concerns commodities connected with the production of weapons or sensitive technologies. If people are familiar not only with the legal basis of export but also the Criminal Code, I think they would not likely risk such activity. On the contrary, they would be more likely to ask for advice about this or that action in order to not violate the law…

    - Changes in the structure of the state export controls system are mainly connected with innovations at the executive level. Is it necessary to adopt an Export Control Law? What “white spots” in the export control system should this Law deal with? Should the Law be detailed –for example, describe procedures for obtaining one-time and general permits?

    - The export control system of Ukraine works rather effectively and I would not like to talk about “white spots” in this sphere. The export control legislation of many countries is based on various relevant laws. Ukraine needs such a legislative base for the state system of export control. The passage of an export controls law of Ukraine would strengthen all work that has been completed previously (i.e. Presidential Decrees and Cabinet of Ministers’ Resolutions). Naturally, the Law must not contain detailed regulations. That should be resolved at the executive level. The Law should consist of the main principles and methods in the export controls system.

    - The UN does not prohibit Cooperation with some countries, for example Syria and Iran. However the US’s position for these countries is much stricter. Subsequently, the US pressures other countries, including Ukraine, to follow suit. What is the Ukrainian policy as for these “ambiguous countries”?