Specialists of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise should be involved, at least as consultants, in the maintenance of the Register of Tobacco Production Equipment, which the Cabinet of Ministers has instructed the Tax Service to create. After all, the experts of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise have considerable experience in research to identify counterfeits. This opinion was expressed by Mykola Pasichnyi, Professor of the Department of Finance at the State University of Trade and Economics, in an exclusive commentary to UNN.
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According to the expert, a separate regulatory document is not required to engage the experts of KFI.
"The experts of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise have considerable experience in the field of examination of the origin of illegal excisable products and the equipment on which they are manufactured, so their involvement in the above procedures will undoubtedly have a positive effect. I am not sure whether this requires a separate regulatory act. But even their involvement as a consultant and their constructive proposals for the introduction of the Register will be appropriate," says Pasichnyi.
In his opinion, the State Customs Service and the Bureau of Economic Security should also be involved in the creation and maintenance of the Register.
Pasichnyi notes that the creation of such a register is, of course, an important step in identifying equipment for the production of tobacco products. After all, in the first quarter of 2024, the share of the shadow market for these products in Ukraine amounted to 19%, and the Equipment Register will be one of the tools to combat it.
"Illegal manufacturers already operating in Ukraine will probably not enter information about their equipment into this Register. At the same time, companies that produce both legal and illegal products may be at risk. After all, it is very likely that by taking samples from these production lines, it will be possible to identify the origin of these products, and then the regulatory authorities will be able to use this information to counteract the shadow market," the economist concludes.
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Oleksandr Ruvin, Director of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, in an exclusive interview with UNN, said that the Register of Equipment for the Preparation or Processing of Tobacco, Tobacco Raw Materials, and Industrial Production of Tobacco Products, which the Cabinet of Ministers instructed the Tax Service to create by its resolution, may not have the expected effect in the fight against the shadow tobacco market.
According to him, the creation of the Register as it is currently proposed will lead to the fact that experts will not be able to identify tobacco production equipment.
"The resolution in question stipulates that the Unified State Register of Equipment for the Preparation or Processing of Tobacco, Tobacco Raw Materials, and Industrial Production of Tobacco Products will be created in Ukraine.
This is just one item on the general agenda, and we have some doubts that it will be as effective as possible in the way it is proposed to be conducted and summarized. Ultimately, this is an important process for us as experts, meaning that we will not be able to identify the line and equipment where the pack was produced," Ruvin said.
Economist Tetyana Koshchuk is convinced that KFI experts should be involved at the stage of the creation of the Register.
"It is best to involve KFI at the stage of creating the Registry and to prescribe its functions in this regulatory framework for its functioning. Perhaps it is necessary to add what powers and obligations they have. It is necessary to introduce cooperation between the State Tax Service and KFI at the operational level. If this process is effectively established, it will have a significant impact on the level of illegal trade in tobacco products, as it will be possible to quickly prove that each particular pack of cigarettes was produced at a particular enterprise in an illegal way," Koshchuk expressed her opinion in a commentary to UNN.