What are the rules for importing humanitarian aid during the war?

During martial law in Ukraine, the rules for importing humanitarian aid were changed to simplify and digitalize the process. On December 1, 2023, the new Procedure for the Passage and Accounting of Humanitarian Aid came into force.

The main changes and rules are:

1. Implementation of the Automated Humanitarian Aid Registration System:

• Organizations planning to import humanitarian aid must register in the Unified Register of Humanitarian Aid Recipients through the Automated System.
• After registration, it is necessary to create and submit a cargo declaration in the system, which is automatically sent to the customs.
• The system assigns a unique code to the declaration, which is used by the customs authorities to identify and clear the cargo.
• The declaration with a unique code is displayed at the customs in electronic or paper form.

2. Cancellation of letters of guarantee:

• From now on, no letters of guarantee from end users are required to import humanitarian aid for the military, which simplifies the process of cargo clearance. Information about such cargoes is not available to the public for security reasons.

3. Mandatory reporting on the distribution of aid:

• By the 15th day of the month following the reporting month, the organization that delivered the humanitarian aid must generate an automatic report in the system.
• The report indicates the status of the aid received: whether it has been distributed, whether it is in the warehouse (with the date and place), whether there are any balances, etc.
• Personal data of recipients is not indicated in the report.
• In case of discrepancies between the actual humanitarian aid received and the declaration data, the recipient submits an inventory to the system, which declares this difference.

Preferential treatment of humanitarian aid:

• Humanitarian aid is exempt from customs duties and taxes.
• Priority customs clearance of humanitarian goods has been introduced.
• Some goods imported as humanitarian aid are exempt from mandatory certification and sanitary and epidemiological control.
• The requirement to obtain licenses for the import of certain goods provided as humanitarian aid has been canceled.