The Business Community Positively Assesses the Introduced Changes in the Work of Customs Authorities - the Results of the Survey Exporters and Importers

According to the results of the fifth wave of the Annual Survey of Ukrainian Exporters and Importers 2020, customs performance has improved overall from a business perspective over the last six months. The value of the CPP Index increased to 0.43 on the scale from -1 to 1. This is the highest result since the survey, signifying a positive business perception of customs reform. 

Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine for European Integration Yuriy Draganchuk took part in an online forum where the results of the Survey were presented. In his speech, he stressed on the importance of business feedback for the Ministry of Finance, and also spoke about the forthcoming plans to reform the State Customs Service.

"Our plans are grand and ambitious, the implementation of many initiatives is continuing: it is the development of IT solutions and increasing the institutional capacity of customs through the transition of the State Customs Service to the model of a single legal entity, the implementation of a pilot project assessing custom's staff qualifications and reliability, etc. The Ministry of Finance closely cooperates with the State Customs Service in these directions, and we also listen to business - those people for whom we work», - said the Deputy Minister of Finance.

The results of the Survey showed that 23% of entrepreneurs have no problems with Customs, which is twice more than in 2016.

In general, more than 80% of the respondents were positive about the work of Customs. However, most respondents believed that customs still needed changes. Among the key problems are imperfect customs legislation and, in the business opinion, a deliberate overestimation of the customs value of goods at customs. 

The research was conducted by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting in the framework of the project Support of the civil society initiative "For Fair and Transparent Customs» financially supported by the European Union, the International Renaissance Foundation and Atlas Network.