Implementation of the customs policy of Ukraine amid improvement of its regulatory and legal support

Statement of the problem. The current stage of Ukrainian society development requires introduction of absolutely new approaches to ensuring the national security of the country. To enable the adequate response to the challenges in today’s life, it is necessary to re-assess the approaches to the customs policy and improvement of its regulatory and legal support, to guarantee efficient governmental regulation of the customs procedures and further European integration of Ukraine.

Currently, administration in the area of customs policy is underdeveloped and requires updates to be in line with the realities of our time as well as the standards and regulations of the European Union. In particular, the public administration system in Ukraine does not meet the needs of the country in terms of the comprehensive reformation in various areas of the governmental policy and the European standards. Hence,  it is necessary to outline and study the challenges existing in the area of customs policy and its regulatory and legal support, as well as identify the ways to address this issue.

Analysis of the latest researches and publications. The customs policy implementation challenges have been researched by many scientists studying this multifaceted issue. It is worth mentioning the works of M. Bilukha, O. Hodovanets, T. Ye- fymenko, I. Kveliashvili [3], L. Kyida, O. Kolomoiets [5], V. Martyniuk, T. Mykytenko, Mosiakina, V. Pashko, V. Khomutynnik, N. Shevchenko and many others. They convey the nature and specifics of the customs policy of Ukraine and management of the same, determine the role of the customs in the system of public authorities, detail the special aspects of customs control.

Addressing the previously untouched points of the general problem. The subject of the research is the in-depth study of Ukraine’s customs policy implementation amid improvement of its regulatory and legal support, with due regards to the European integration ambitions of Ukraine.

Presentation of the basic research material. The customs policy of Ukraine is both complex and comprehensive, being one of the key components in the system of public administration of the foreign economic activity. It features clearly definedinstitutional support, customs policy implementation methods, mechanisms and directions. Generally, customs policy should be reviewed both as a narrow and a broad phenomenon. In the first case, it is characterized by the subjects of its implementation, and in the second one, the national economic interests. These approaches to interpretation of the nature of the specified category are equivalent.

The customs policy is most powerful if it is implemented in the context of efficient governmental control of all the social processes. The legal regulation aimed at governing the external economic relations, defending the interests of the domestic manufacturers, coordinating and regulating the external trade structure, and generally strengthening the country’s economic securityplays a huge role.

In addition, it is important to dwell on the customs control because it ensures efficiency and effectiveness of the customs transactions in the researched area. Adoption of the Law of Ukraine «On customs control of Ukraine» is the way to systematize the legal regulations in the area of customs policy and bring them in line with the international norms and standards. Misalignment of the legal regulations governing customs control and various areas of its implementation is one of the key obstacles on the way to efficient customs clearanceprocedures in our time.

Another big challenge in the area of customs policy is  incongruity between the Ukrainian legal regulatory basis and the key provisions of the European legislation. Considering importance of maintaining the European integration ties for Ukraine, the legislative basis of the country has to be greatly unified and brought in line with the European Union standards.

Implementation of the customs policy of Ukraine amid improvement of its regulatory and legal support has to be based on unification of the customs legislation owing toupdate of the separateprovisions of the regulatory framework; execution of the governmental operations in the area of customs policy within the competence of the State Customs Service of Ukraine; facilitation of joint activity underway fulfillment of the international agreements; supervision over customs authority employees’ strict abidance by the laws of Ukraine in conformity with the relevant law enforcement activity and the national security of the country; introduction of the legislative support procedures on the joint borders with the European countries and implementation of the same amid stabilization and maintenance of the efficient interstate relations of the parties.

Conclusions. As an essential component of the country’s economic policy, customs policy requires a thorough study in terms of the particular relations in the customs area. Ultimately, it is important to focus on the regulatory and legal support and improvement of the same, which is gaining weight amid the European integration goals of Ukraine. Apart from the above, it is necessary to address the challenges in the customs control area and substantiate adoption of the special Law of Ukraine “On customs control of Ukraine.” Unification of the regulatory and legal support in the customs clearance area will not only improve the work of the public authorities in the customs control area, but also speed up the European integration processes that have already started in Ukraine and have become objective and irreversible.