Ukraine Government Plans to Set Import Duty on Second-hand Clothes

The Cabinet of Ministers is planning to introduce the import duty on second-hand clothes, Ukrainian Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Valeriy Pyatnytskyi said.

Thus, the Government is planning to respond to complaints from Ukrainian producers that the import of second-hand clothing is destroying the Ukrainian light industry, although in monetary terms its share is fairly insignificant. "It is about 100,000 tons of clothes coming to Ukraine. This is equal to 40-50% of light industry products made in Ukraine," Head of the Ukrainian Association of Light Industry Enterprises (UkrLehProm) Valentyna Izovit admitted. According to the State Committee for Consumer Policy and Entrepreneurship, up to two kilogrammes of second-hand clothes per person is imported to Ukraine every year, and its average value declared last year was four cents per kilogramme. According to experts, the prime cost of a second-hand shirt or blouse is 50-80 kopecks, a pair of jeans - about UAH 2, and a down-padded coat - about UAH 5, while the price of these things in Ukraine is five to ten times higher.