The State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection (SSUFSCP) with the support of the Digital Transformation Activity funded by USAID and UK Dev, together with representatives of the Eastern Europe Foundation and BRDO, held two focus groups with regional experts to create a unified information and communication system, that will become a single digital register of the service in the future.
The first focus group was held on 25 July in Kyiv and the second on 12 August in Lviv. During these events, regional specialists of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection took part in developing the most effective ideas and solutions that will be implemented in a single digital information and communication system. As of today, proposals from employees from 16 regions of Ukraine have already been collected.
“The State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection is actively moving towards digital transformation. It is important for us to ensure that the reforms we have initiated are applied and bring about qualitative changes – to maximise business benefits. That is why we seek to receive as many recommendations, advice and suggestions as possible from our regional experts who have significant practical experience. All of their ideas will be implemented in our digital registers,” said Serhii Tkachuk, Acting Head of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
According to Solomiya Starosolska, Advisor to the Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, Head of Deregulation and Business Support within the Digital Transformation Activity, Eastern Europe Foundation, the results of the focus groups already show a vision of key solutions to be implemented.
“The registration of capacities should become fully automated so that the service will be provided in a declarative format in compliance with the principle of extraterritoriality. We want to reduce the application processing time from 10 days to 1 day. With regard to operational permits, we plan to significantly simplify the process of issuing them. We will shorten the timeframe and revise the procedures for determining the fee for inspection activities depending on the size of the enterprise (micro, small, medium, large),” said Solomiya Starosolska.
It is planned that the registration of facilities will be based on inspections carried out using body cameras and tablets, and payment for services will be automated. When submitting applications, companies will clearly indicate the areas of activity, which will allow the state to obtain accurate information on regional attractiveness and capacity categories. The latter, among other things, will help attract investment more effectively. The combination of all these measures will allow to collect information on issued permits, which will also simplify export operations.
“The State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection regulates the activities of extremely important areas that have a direct impact on food security, as well as on the life and health of every Ukrainian citizen. Therefore, improving the work of the Service with the help of digital tools is a crucial task that we are jointly implementing, including with a view to integrating it with the Single Window of Customs Trade. I am grateful to all the employees of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection who gave their professional suggestions and advice on what the digital services of the Service should be and how they should work during two focus groups,” said Danylo Molchanov, Chief of Party of the Digital Transformation Activity.
“The creation of the Unified State Information and Communication System of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection will allow us to comprehensively review the procedures for providing public services and maintaining the relevant registers of the service. Thanks to the conducted focus groups, we have a clear understanding of what needs to be done: to minimise the time spent by both business and authorities on registering facilities and issuing operating permits, as well as to unify approaches to service delivery procedures throughout Ukraine. A comprehensive service and the introduction of a single application form will replace the need for businesses to take 7 separate actions and enter information into various registers. This, in turn, will make it easier for SMEs to enter the market and allow them to focus on other business issues,” said Iryna Gruzinska, Agriculture Sector Head of the BRDO.
The Digital Transformation Activity (DTA) is being implemented with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and UK International Development (UK Dev). The project is committed to transforming Ukraine’s digital landscape to achieve three pivotal objectives: economic revitalization, transparency in reconstruction, and democratic governance.
The project partners are the East Europe Foundation and the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO).