A phytosanitary examination will be carried out by private laboratories

After 3 and a half years, the rules for the phytosanitary examination will change. According to the forthcoming version of the Law “On plant quarantine” a phytosanitary examination (analysis) can be carried out by state phytosanitary inspectors or specialists of a private phytosanitary laboratory at the choice of the owner of the cargo or the person authorized by him. Examination by a private laboratory is carried out for export purposes.

The phytosanitary examination includes analysis of the phytosanitary status for the purpose of identifying pests; identification of pest species; their condition, stage of development and quantity; formation of a sample document.

The changes are stipulated by the Law 2501-VІІІ concerning the settlement of certain phytosanitary procedures, which will be enforced on February 2, 2019 (with the exception of a few provisions introduced on February 2, 2022).

The law introduces new terms in the field of plant quarantine (“arbitration sample”, “seizure”, “visual inspection”, “party”, “sample document”, “laboratory”, “phytosanitary examination (analyzes)”, etc.) .

The Register of authorized phytosanitary laboratories is also being introduced. The name and address of the phytosanitary laboratory with the indication of the validity period of its certificate of accreditation, as well as the number and date of issue of the phytosanitary examination (analysis) report will be entered in the Register. The information of the Register will be public and public.

Only an accredited laboratory can be authorized, which has not violated the requirements of normative and legal acts and standards ISO / IEC 17025, DSTU ISO 17025 or other standards, by which they have been replaced, for compliance with which it has been accredited within the last six months.

Labs of any form of ownership will be able to carry out a phytosanitary examination.

The Act also determines the validity period of the phytosanitary certificate in the territory of Ukraine (14 days). The procedure for keeping the register of issued phytosanitary certificates will be determined by the Cabinet.

The law introduces the administrative responsibility of officials of phytosanitary laboratories for improper compliance with the legislation on plant quarantine during the examination. For a repeated violation in this sphere, as a result of which two or more notifications of non-compliance with phytosanitary measures in accordance with International Standard on phytosanitary measures No. 13 have been received from the importing country, officials face a fine of 100 to 200 NMDG (from 1,700 to 3,400 UAH). This rule will be enacted in February 2022.