U.S.-Ukraine to Harmonize Standards to Improve International Trade

To enhance trade between the United States and Ukraine, the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology and the State Committee of Ukraine for Standardization, Metrology, and Certification (DERJSTANDART) have signed a memorandum of understanding on scientific and technical cooperation to remove non-tariff trade barriers between the two countries.

The MOU in the fields of standards and metrology was completed on May 28, 1994, at the first informal meeting of the U.S./Ukraine Standards Working Group in Kiev. The meeting was hosted by Yuriy D. Severinov, president of DERJSTANDART.

A U.S. delegation of industry and government officials interested in standards-related trade issues between the United States and Ukraine was led by Stanley I. Warshaw, director of the Office of Standards Services at NIST.

The memorandum between NIST and DERJSTANDART recognizes the growing importance of the harmonization of standards and conformity assessment measures to improve international trade.

At the Kiev meeting, U.S. and Ukrainian standards officials endorsed a recommendation that the Executive Committee of the Joint Commission on Trade and Investment adopt the Standards Working Group under its auspices. The first meeting of the JCTI Executive Committee will be held July 1994 in Kiev. The JCTI was formally established in March 1994 during a visit to the United States by Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk.

The aim of the Standards Working Group will be to explore mutually advantageous avenues of cooperation, including the promotion of international standards and product acceptance criteria.

Warshaw notes that Ukraine has adopted a law known as the Act on the Protection of Consumer's Rights for which DERJSTANDART has established a product certification program, called "UkrSEPRO." This requirement is similar to Russia's Consumer Protection Law of 1993, which mandates the certification mark of that country. The Ukraine program requires that all goods, materials and foods be certified before they are placed in the Ukraine marketplace.

As a non-regulatory agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, NIST promotes U.S. economic growth by working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements and standards.