Forwarding services in Ukraine

It seems meaningless to create in the companies, irregularly engaged in export-import deliveries, own transport services for:

• analyses of transport conditions of the contracts in order to choose the optimal transportation route and appropriate vehicles;
• studying of conjuncture of the world transport market;
• control over storage and transshipment of cargoes in the ports and on border-crossing points.
All this work demands special knowledge, significant practical experience, and in the case of big remoteness from ports and border-crossing points is very expensive.

It is possible to put on to do this work to a special transport-expediting enterprise which can provide the wide complex of cargoes forwarding services.

Such enterprises mainly grant following services:

• freighting of vessels and payment transaction under the freight;
• payment transaction under the foreign trade contracts;
• telex information;
• consultations on payment transactions and forwarding operations;
• customs declaring of cargoes;
• cargo-handling operations;
• storage of cargo;
• road transportation;
• preparation of necessary shipping documents;
• cargo insurance;
• sorting, transhipment, repacking, accumulation, completing of cargo sets for aggregated shipments, marking and remarking of cargoes, and also other operations which are not carried out by carriers in the points of transshipment and storage of cargo.

Forwarding enterprises, regularly accommodating considerable quantity of cargo, have the discount for the freight of vessels and other vehicles that reduces charter expenses of their clients.

The summary version of the Law of Ukraine

On Forwarding Activity

Date of Entry into Force: July 30, 2004

The Law defines legal and organizational principles of forwarding activity in Ukraine and is aimed at creation of conditions for its development and improvement.

The Law defines such terms as forwarding activity, forwarding service, forwarder, carrier and other.

Forwarding activity is conducted by subjects of economic activity of different ownership forms, which for fulfillment of clients' commissions or according to working technologies may have: warehouses, different types of vehicles, containers, production premises, etc.

Forwarding activity may be conducted by the specialized enterprises (organizations) and other business entities.

Pursuant to the legislation, forwarders may unite in associations, leagues, unions, etc. on a voluntary basis.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine shall organize and ensure implementation of state policy and state control in the sphere of forwarding activity, direct and coordinate work of bodies of executive power, which carry out state regulation in this sphere of activity.

The Law defines directions of state policy regarding forwarding activity. State support of forwarding activity is formed and conducted in compliance with the state economic development programs in the sphere of transport and provides for:
• observance of rights and legal interests of forwarders, carriers and consumers of their services:
• encouragement of increase of export volumes of forwarding services, including by simplification of settlement system;
• creation of equal conditions at the market of forwarding services:
• promotion of international cooperation, adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to international requirements in the sphere of forwarding activity.

The Law also defines types of forwarding services. Forwarding services shall be rendered to the client during export from Ukraine, import into Ukraine, transit through the territory of Ukraine or through other states, internal transportations through the territory of Ukraine. The forwarders on commission of the clients shall:

• ensure optimum transport service, as well as organize transportation of cargos through the territory of Ukraine by different types of transport:
• freight national, foreign ships, use other vehicles and ensure their rendering to ports, railway stations, warehouses, terminals or other objects for timely sending of cargos;
• perform works related to acceptance, accumulation, pounding, redesign, sorting, storage, keeping, transportation of cargos:
• keep record of arrival and departure of cargos from ports, railway stations, warehouses, terminals or other objects;
• organize guard of cargos during their transportation, trans-shipment and storage;
• organize expertise of cargos;
• draw up transport documents and send them to the appropriate place;
• render other related services.


The Law sets requirements to a forwarding agreement and its implementation. Forwarding agreement shall be concluded in a written form. In particular, significant conditions of this agreement shall be:

• information about parties to the agreement;
• type of service rendered by the forwarder;
• type and name of cargo;
• rights and liabilities of parties;
• responsibility of parties, including damage due to irresistible force;
• other conditions as determined by law.


Transportation of cargos shall be accompanied by transport documents, which shall be in the international language depending on the chosen type of transport or in the official language, if the cargos are transported within Ukraine.

The Law defines rights and duties of a forwarder and a client.

If required, a forwarder shall be entitled to deviate from the client's instructions in the event of threat to damage cargo, safety of people and environment. A forwarder shall prior obtain the client's consent to such deviation.

A forwarder shall insure cargo and own responsibility according to the law and forwarding agreement.

The Law sets responsibility of a forwarder and a client. In particular, a forwarder shall be responsible for the number of places, weight, if control weighting at presence of a representative of a carrier was held, which shall be certified by its signature, correspondence of packing to transport documents, which are certified by a representative of a carrier, unless otherwise is established by the forwarding agreement.

A forwarder shall also be responsible for activities and oversight of the third persons, which it attracted to implementation of the forwarding agreement, according to the same procedure as for own actions.

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