Obtainment a license for use of precursors: innovations in procedure

You need the appropriate license in order to carry out the activities related to work with precursors. Until recently, the procedure of its obtainment has been one of the most unregulated ones.

Recently, the State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Drug Control has redefined the rules of the license terms, which we will set forth below. That has led to a new requirement for obtaining a license: from now on, the permit of the National Police to use facilities and premises is required for all types of activities with precursors.

At the same time, the National Police refuses to issue such permits in some cases, since it does not have this kind of a direct order.

All this leads to a complication of the procedure for obtaining a license for precursors. What to do and how to find a way out of the situation?

What do legislative acts tell us on this subject?

The current license conditions include a list of documents that are submitted to the licensing authority to obtain a license. Among them is the permit of the National Police to use facilities and premises.

However, the terms and conditions stipulate that if the licensee carries out a type of activity that is not subject to licensing in full, but only partially, then the terms and conditions apply to it only in that part that establishes the requirements for the implementation of this part of the type of activity.

More recently, the State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Drug Control interpreted the above norm in such a way that if the licensee does not carry out any activities in the premises with the respective substances, but is only engaged in their sale and purchase, then no permits for the premises are required.

In other words, a business entity that acted only as an intermediary in the trade in precursors, and into whose office these substances did not enter, might not even have an office itself by registering a legal entity in the apartment of one of the founders.

What has changed?

In 2019, the practice of the licensing authority has changed. At the same time, the License conditions themselves remained unchanged or unclarified.

Now the State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Drug Control refers to the fact that the permit in question is contained in the list of documents submitted for obtaining a license. Therefore, despite the fact that activities will be carried out on the use or storage of substances, or not, this document is necessary.

However, in most regional departments of the National Police, they have a different perspective on the situation. They argue that if there is no activity done with chemicals in the premises, a permit is not required.

In fact, in order to obtain this permit, the premises must meet a number of criteria, among which are the security of the premises, the requirements for its equipment, the list of persons admitted to the premises, etc. For business entities that are not going to carry out any activities directly with precursors on the premises, such a requirement leads to unnecessary financial expenses and is simply impractical.

Therefore, many business entities found themselves in this vicious circle.

Related article: Our lawyers obtained a license for operations with precursor chemicals

What are the options?

• You do not have to turn to the National Police with an official request for clarification where your type of activity requires obtainment of a permit from the National Police. With this document, you can appeal against the actions of the body in the Expert Appeal Board on licensing.

How is it going to help: An appeal to the Council can help you get the necessary license without having premises available or a permit to use it.

The following difficulties are possible: Appealing against the actions of an authority is a process that requires comprehensive legal knowledge if you are looking to get a positive result. In addition, the consideration of the case in the Council can significantly delay the start of your business. In this case, if you want to defend your position and hope to get a license, we advise you to contact our lawyers for help.

• If it is important for you to quickly obtain a license and start the operations of your enterprise, we advise you to get an explanation from the National Police about the absence of the necessary premises for your type of activity, and submit the documents to the State Service again, without appeal.

How is it going to to help: Having an explanation can serve as the basis for issuing a license without a permit.

The following difficulties are possible: Representatives of the National Police or the agency may take advantage of your lack of qualifications in legal matters and refuse to issue, an Explanation or a license itself, respectively. In this situation, the assistance of a lawyer may just be necessary.

The issue of obtaining a permit  is one of the points of the procedure for obtaining a license for the operations with precursors. If you want to start your business quickly and efficiently, get in touch with our company for a turnkey license. You can get any further information from our staff.