Development of the System of Customs Examinations in Ukraine in the Context of Compliance with the Requirements of the European Union

Abstract

The issues of improvement of the system of customs examinations in Ukraine in the context of compliance with the requirements of the European Union are researched. One of the elements of the adaptation process is the implementation of European regulations on the organization and conduct of examinations by customs laboratories and the use of the best national practices in regulating the activities of the customs institutions. It has been determined that modern cooperation in harmonizing national legislation with the requirements of the European Union in the field of expert activity encourages the formation of the unified understanding of the content of expert competencies, expert training and certification programs, as well as mutual accreditation of expert structures. This allows us to recognize the methodological support of expert activity and to obtain expert opinions on the basis of studies conducted in customs laboratories of other countries. To this effect, within the framework of harmonization there is a need for the unified procedures of approbation and valuation techniques for goods examining. It has been noted in the work that the mutual validation of research methods in the framework of examinations and their voluntary certification in the bodies of conformity assessment of the WTO member states is the matter of great importance. In this regard, the priority task of the development of the institute of customs examination in Ukraine is to increase the reliability of expert opinions and the prevention of expert errors. It has been specified that the judicial practice of considering cases in the customs sphere indicates the presence of procedural, legal, organizational, and methodological errors in the appointment, organization and conduct of customs examinations. The main international trends in the development of the institution of examination as an expert form of specialist knowledge is the convergence of the Anglo-American and continental systems of law in matters of examination. The necessity of securing in the customs legislation the right of the declarant to pose their own questions when the examination is conducted, to be present during the selection of samples or studies as part of the examination, to get acquainted with the methods and tools used to conduct research has been proved.