The business community calls for the exclusion of the provisions on the prohibition of visible placement of tobacco products in retail outlets from the program for the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to EU law.
The European Business Association has appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers with a request to exclude the provision on the prohibition of visible placement of tobacco products in retail outlets from the draft National Program for the Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation to EU Law. The corresponding letter was sent to the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka.
This concerns clause 50 of Section 28, Consumer Protection and Health Protection, of the National Adaptation Program, which provides for the entry into force of the law on the prohibition of visible placement of tobacco products and related products at points of sale (draft law No. 12091-1) by December 2027.
The Association emphasized that such a provision is not provided for by European Union legislation. In particular, the issues of advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products are regulated by Directive 2003/33/EC, and the requirements for production, presentation and sale are regulated by Directive 2014/40/EC.
“At the same time, none of these documents contains provisions on a mandatory ban on visible placement of products in retail outlets,” the business community emphasized.
According to the assessment of the member companies of the Association, the current Ukrainian legislation in the field of regulation of production, import and circulation of tobacco products already generally complies with Ukraine’s obligations under the Association Agreement with the EU, in particular in terms of the implementation of Directive 2014/40/EC.
“Therefore, the business community believes that the introduction of additional regulation, which is not required by EU law, is inappropriate and may have a negative impact on the economy and revenues to the state budget,” the European Business Association summarized.
As reported, the National Program for Adapting Ukrainian Legislation to EU Law was preliminarily approved on December 30, 2025 by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Ensuring the Negotiation Process on Ukraine’s Accession to the EU.
