The inspection system in Ukraine is transforming towards a risk-oriented approach. From now on, inspection bodies should focus on a transparent assessment of business entities and risk prevention, while business owners will be aware of when and why they are inspected.
As of today, an integrated portal inspections.gov.ua with a number of instruments for transparent and predictable online state-business interaction has already been launched. 26 of 33 inspection agencies have already joined the portal and published information about their inspections. As of October 2018, almost 250 thousand plans and about 48 thousand results of inspections have been published in this single system. New risk criteria are in the process of approval, and this will allow to plan control measures in a more effective way.
On October 17, the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) with the support of the EU4Business/FORBIZ initiative presented the first reform results and further steps of its implementation at the Inspection Forum #PEREVIROK.NET, which takes place in Kyiv as part of the European Entrepreneurship Week.
“The Government approved a number of decisions needed to launch a new risk management system. Transformation is inevitable, and most regulatory bodies have already understood that. Our goal is to fully implement the risk-oriented system of inspections starting from the beginning of 2019. Therefore, I insist that all inspection bodies should approve the risk criteria in their areas and joined the single portal of inspections by the end of this year,” the Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Hroisman said, opening the event.
The EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli stressed the importance of developing a transparent inspection system for further implementation of reforms in Ukraine. “The institutional capacity, including a transparent, effective control system, is a basic component of a favorable business climate. Business is developing when there are clear and predictable rules in the market. In this case, entrepreneurs can better plan their activities, achieve better results, enter international markets and contribute to the development of the country’s economy as a whole,” he said.
In the spring, the Government approved a new risk management methodology, and the task of inspections is to identify a list of hazards for each area of control and develop a combination of criteria for identifying risks and planning inspections efficiently. For the present, the most progress was made by regulatory bodies responsible for fire and technological safety, security activities and tourism.
“The new system should be aimed at risk management, rather than mindless documentation of violations identified today in 99% of inspections. We create the integrated BigData portal with a whole array of data and the possibility of their qualitative analysis. Businesses should have clear and comprehensive information about inspection requirements and the possibility to reduce the risks of their activities. This will significantly reduce opportunities for abuse and make the system more effective and predictable,” the BRDO Head Oleksiy Honcharuk said.
This will allow to rate business entities and facilities in terms of risk points in each area in order to focus on the prevention of hazards for the most risky ones.
Another important task of the new inspection system is a tax payer-oriented approach. With this in view, there will be a “Risk management web room” with a number of instruments on the Inspection Portal:
– calendar of scheduled inspections;
– history of inspections conducted and their results;
– full check-lists – the requirements for entrepreneurs providing self-control possibilities for each potential hazard;
– functionality allowing to assess the quality of inspectors’ work, which will become the basis for the rating of inspections;
– functionality allowing to indicate that some requirements are burdensome and hinder the work. This will be the basis for their review to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses.
The event was also attended by Kseniya Lyapina, Head of the State Regulatory Service, Maksym Nefyodov, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, Oleksiy Kudryavtsev, Head of the State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate, Volodymyr Lapa, Head of the State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service, Roman Chernega, Head of the State Labor Service, Oleksandr Vlasov, Acting Head of the State Fiscal Service, Kateryna Hlazkova, Executive Director of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs, Anna Derevyanko, Executive Director of the European Business Association, Tetyana Prokopchuk, Vice President at American Chamber of Commerce as well as numerous business representatives and members of the public.
The Inspection Portal instruments are available in the test mode at www.inspections.gov.ua. They will be fully available for use from January 1, 2019. For this purpose, inspection agencies should approve new forms of inspection acts and publish the information on inspections by the end of this year. In November, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine supported by USAID / UK aid project “Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services / TAPAS” will begin working on upgrades to the Inspection Portal.