Law No. 4831-IX Industrial Visa-Free Regime: What the Verkhovna Rada Passed on April 7, 2026

On April 7, 2026 the Verkhovna Rada passed Law No. 4831-IX — harmonization with EU Regulation 765/2008 and Decision 768/2008 opens the path to ACAA on mutual recognition of certificates in LVD, EMC and Machinery.

On April 7, 2026 the Verkhovna Rada passed Law of Ukraine No. 4831-IX in the second reading — "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Harmonization of Accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies and the Technical Regulation System with the Provisions of EU Law". The bill's original registration number was 12221. The document was prepared by the Committee on Economic Development together with the Ministry of Economy throughout 2025, so by the time it reached the session hall it had already been agreed with the main industrial associations. Eurointegration described the adoption as "a substantial step toward the industrial visa-free regime".

If the substance is condensed into one sentence: Ukraine is formally bringing the national accreditation and conformity assessment system in line with the letter of EU rules. This is not cosmetic but a change in the rules of the game for manufacturers, laboratories and certification bodies — procedures that previously existed in scattered national technical regulations are now anchored to the European framework.

In parallel with 4831-IX, Law 12426 on market surveillance is moving through the ACAA package — the third mandatory building block of the foundation, without which the agreement cannot technically take effect. These two laws are linked but follow different implementation logic, so they are reviewed as a pair. On April 21, 2026 the President's signature activates the implementation deadlines — a separate piece will cover that with a detailed look at the NAAU peer evaluation and the ratification timeline.

ACAA stands for Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products. It is a separate protocol within the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) operating between Ukraine and the EU since 2014. Article 57 of the Association Agreement directly provides for its conclusion in priority industrial sectors. The EU already has similar agreements with Türkiye, Switzerland and Israel — they have shown in practice that ACAA removes trade barriers without diluting product quality and safety requirements.

The logic of ACAA is simple: if a candidate country's accreditation system, technical regulation and market surveillance are identical to the European ones, the EU recognizes its certificates without additional procedures. The same way it does for Member States. This is not a "permit" but a legal mechanism of mutual recognition that lets goods move in both directions: a Ukrainian manufacturer enters the EU market, and a European one reaches Ukraine faster.

Law No. 4831-IX closes two of the three blocks of this foundation: accreditation and technical regulation. The third — market surveillance — is set out in a separate Law 12426. Without these three laws ACAA is technically impossible, because the EU cannot conduct a peer review of the national system and confirm that it mirrors the European one.

For a manufacturer the logic is this: after the agreement is ratified, a certificate issued by a conformity assessment body accredited in Ukraine works on the EU market without recertification. In other words, a Ukrainian plant will not duplicate testing in Poland or the Czech Republic but will use a DoC from a local CB. The savings in time and money are substantial, but access has to be earned by preparing the management system right now: the sooner the QMS and the laboratory scope are aligned, the shorter the risk window after the agreement enters into force. We compiled an overview of the certification market in our article on ISO certifications 2026.

Competitors in the SERP barely explain what is actually contained in these two European documents. Here is the breakdown without legal jargon.

EU Regulation 765/2008 sets the general rules for how accreditation of conformity assessment bodies is organized in the Union. Key points:

• one national accreditation body per country (for Ukraine that is the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU));
• this body must pass peer evaluation by EA (European co-operation for Accreditation) — a mutual review by colleagues from other countries;
• certification bodies (CB) and laboratories receive accreditation only from it, with a transparent scope;
• under certain conditions a CB may obtain accreditation in another EA Member State — this is called cross-border accreditation.

EU Decision 768/2008 is a unified construction kit for technical regulation under the New Approach. It describes:

• conformity assessment modules (from A to H) — typical scenarios for how a manufacturer demonstrates that a product is safe: self-declaration, tests in a CB, production audit, full quality system certification;
• the Declaration of Conformity (DoC) in a single format — the document that accompanies a product onto the EU market;
• CE marking and the rules for affixing it;
• the obligations of the manufacturer, authorized representative, importer and distributor;
• the technical file — a body of evidence kept for at least 10 years.

What this gives Ukraine after implementation: a manufacturer who has prepared a technical file under 768/2008 and obtained a DoC from a body accredited by NAAU does not need to recertify in the EU after ACAA is ratified. One package of documents — two markets.

For Ukrainian companies both documents mean a practical shift in behavior: the "local" certification logic ceases to exist and a single European one starts to apply. This is especially useful for those who are also certifying to ISO 9001 — many procedures (document control, corrective actions, internal audit) are repeated between the QMS and the 768/2008 modules, so there is no duplicated work.

The EU is ready to accept Ukrainian certificates first in the sectors where national technical legislation already matches Union directives by 90+ %. These are low-voltage electrical equipment, electromagnetic compatibility and machinery. Other sectors — medical devices, construction materials, pressure equipment — will be added later.

Below is a compact reference for a manufacturer covering which directive and which standards to keep on the desk.

Regardless of the directive, the basic set of elements is the same:

• a technical file meeting 768/2008 requirements — product description, drawings, BOM, risk analysis, test reports;
• a Declaration of Conformity (DoC) signed by the manufacturer's authorized person;
• marking — once ACAA is ratified, alongside CE the Ukrainian UA marking is expected to be recognized;
• testing in a laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, with a focused scope under the directive;
• a stable QMS foundation — in the vast majority of cases this is ISO 9001, without which it is impossible to pass modules D/E/H, where the quality management system is reviewed. We covered the ISO 9001 baseline in detail in our QMS implementation guide.

The law's stakeholders are not only exporters. The law shapes a new conformity assessment ecosystem in which every participant has a role.

• Manufacturers in the three priority sectors. After ratification — savings of 15–30 % on duplicated certification costs and a noticeably faster route into the EU market. Critical for machinery, where production runs are small and the cost of CB certification can take up a noticeable share of the project budget.
• Ukrainian certification bodies. The chance to gain recognition as notified body equivalents — a serious competitive edge. So far, no Ukrainian CB holds notified body status in the Union.
• ISO/IEC 17025 testing laboratories. Expansion of scope under EU standards, access to proficiency testing through EA-recognized providers, the ability to serve orders from foreign manufacturers.
• NAAU. The standing of a national regulator recognized at the EA, IAF and ILAC level. This raises trust in every certificate issued in Ukraine, even outside the three priority sectors.
• EU buyers and clients. European clients' tender documents already require CE marking or an equivalent today. ACAA makes Ukrainian suppliers' participation more transparent — without extra certification barriers and rushed audits at the buyer's request.

Worth noting: ACAA does not switch on automatically once the President signs the law. Between the signature and actual ratification there is a 12–18 month window for NAAU peer evaluation, for the DCFTA committee's assessment of technical legislation, and for both sides to agree on the text of the agreement. This is not a reason to postpone preparation — on the contrary, this is the window where a unique opportunity opens up to enter the EU market first while competitors are still weighing strategy. We unpack these details in the next piece in the series. The broader compliance context for Ukrainian businesses is collected in our audit and compliance 2026 guide.

Four steps worth starting with regardless of whether you plan to export in 2026 or in 2028.

Step 1. Gap analysis of the QMS against ISO 9001 and the 768/2008 modules. Review the current quality management system. Do the processes cover product control under modules B/C/D — the most common ones for LVD, EMC and Machinery? Are there procedures for the technical file, DoC, marking and post-production surveillance? If anything exists only on paper, that is the first priority. The service is a diagnostic audit. Why ISO 9001 is the foundation for a manufacturer is explained in our article on the value and benefits of ISO 9001.

Step 2. Verifying the laboratory's accreditation scope. If you have an in-house laboratory, make sure NAAU has accredited it specifically against your EN standards, without generic wording like "electrical testing". If there is no laboratory, choose an external partner whose scope covers your product's risks. Support — ISO/IEC 17025 implementation.

Step 3. Preparing the technical file. The pack consists of a product description, drawings, BOM, risk analysis (EN ISO 12100 for machinery, EN 50581 for RoHS-covered electronics), test reports from an accredited laboratory, and the DoC in the Annex II/III template of the relevant directive. The file must be kept for at least 10 years after the last unit of the product leaves the market.

Step 4. Audit support during conformity assessment. For modules requiring CB certification (D, E, F, G, H) you need Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits. A separate value is experienced support in communicating with the CB, especially when it comes to non-conformities and closing them within tight deadlines. This is our audit support service.

A typical project runs from three to nine months depending on QMS maturity and product complexity. Manufacturers who already have ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025 in place go through the cycle faster and cheaper; those starting from scratch get an additional bonus — a modernized system that is useful even outside the ACAA scenario.

Law 4831 is the half-marathon that thousands of Ukrainian manufacturers will run over the next 18–24 months. Ekontrol guides client teams through this path as a project with clear stages:

• Diagnostic Audit — initial gap analysis of the QMS against 768/2008 requirements and the EN standards of your sector;
• Implementation — implementation of ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025 for the ACAA scenario, without surplus documentation;
• Audit Support — Stage 1 and Stage 2 support at the CB, communication with the auditor, closure of non-conformities;
• annual post-certification support to stay ready for surveillance and market checks.

Every step is tied to your business case: export in LVD, EMC, machinery — or several sectors at once.

• Law of Ukraine No. 4831-IX (text on zakon.rada.gov.ua)
• Eurointegration: Rada passes law on industrial visa-free (07.04.2026)
• Ministry of Economy of Ukraine — me.gov.ua
• Ukrinform: Rada passes law on industrial visa-free with EU
• Regulation (EU) 765/2008 — eur-lex.europa.eu
• Decision (EU) 768/2008 — eur-lex.europa.eu

Need expert support implementing the changes covered above? Contact the Ekontrol team for a free consultation.