The Government of Ukraine is completing an important stage in the implementation of a unified standard for the certification of mine action operators and mine action processes. The Cabinet of Ministers approved this experimental project on February 2, 2024. The BRDO team participated in its development.
Ukraine needs to attract as many mine action operators as possible – both Ukrainian and foreign. According to the data of the State Emergency Service, as of February 17, 2023, the total area of the territories of Ukraine that may be contaminated by explosive objects (EXP) as a result of the military aggression of the Russian Federation is about 174,000 km2.
Accordingly, the process of certifying operators should be optimised and transparent – less bureaucracy and more clarity in the rules for all participants in the process. This will contribute to the accelerated demining of territories and the formation of a competitive market for demining services, as well as ensure cost savings.
In addition, mine action operators are small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. The capacity of existing operators is not comparable to the scale of the current challenges. Demand is increasing, but not supply: in 2021, 4 operators were certified, in the next 1.5 years of full-scale war – only 18. As of the same beginning of 2023, the total number of PMD operators was 23. Thanks to the experimental project, access to new ones will be possible players to the market who are faster to clear agricultural fields and other areas where business can develop.
This experiment is designed to harmonize certification approaches for all certification centers. Until now, there were differences in requirements between the centers of the Ministry of Defense and, for example, the State Emergency Service. Now, any operator, regardless of the choice of the certification center, is required to provide a single set of documents and go through standardized procedures. This simplification minimizes the bureaucratic burden and contributes to the digitization of certification processes.
In the Procedure for implementing the experimental project:
- three stages of certification of mine action processes are established, which must be completed in order to obtain the corresponding certificate;
- a clear list of documents to be submitted to the certification body for obtaining the appropriate certificate and the names of mine action processes is defined;
- optimised deadlines for consideration by the certification body of the submitted documents, the possibility of submitting the application and documents to the certification body in electronic form, the procedure for paying for services for the applicant’s completion of the relevant certification stage, and other provisions.
In addition, the provisions of the Procedure for the implementation of the experimental project set the validity period of the certificate of conformity in the case of initial certification – 3 years, and in the case of re-certification – 5 years. In addition, exceptional grounds for termination or suspension of the certificate are defined.
The procedure for the implementation of the experimental project was developed by the Ministry of Economy with the participation of BRDO experts in consultation with other state bodies, in particular with the Ministry of Defense, the State Emergency Situations Service, the State Security and Transport Service, and the involvement of non-governmental operators and Ukrainian and international experts in the field of mine action. The experimental project is designed for 2 years.
Experts of BRDO joined the development of an experimental project within the framework of the EU4business: SME Policies and Institutions Support (SMEPIS) project, implemented by Ecorys in a consortium with GIZ, BRDO and Civitta with the financial support of the European Union. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of SMEPIS and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union.