The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved the procedure for maintaining a new State Register, which will consolidate into a single digital system all documents confirming compliance with legislative requirements in the field of animal welfare. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the Ministry of Economy and Environment. The government resolution introduces centralized record-keeping of state certificates, temporary permits, certificates of vehicle fitness for the transport of animals, as well as permits for short-term and long-term operations and trip logs. As designed by its developers, the system is intended to become a single point of verification for state control bodies, enabling them to establish in real time the presence and validity of the required documents.
Who is required to hold certificates and what exactly will be included in the register
The new register will affect all workers directly engaged in the keeping, transport and slaughter of agricultural animals, as well as those performing operations related to these activities. From 1 January 2026, mandatory animal welfare requirements for agricultural animals come into force in Ukraine, and from that moment every employee working with animals must have knowledge and practical skills confirmed by a state certificate. The register will include data on such certificates, as well as on temporary permits issued for the transitional period. A separate block in the system will store certificates of vehicle fitness for the transport of animals — a critically important element, since logistics and transport conditions directly affect the welfare of the herd. In addition, the register will record permits for short-term and long-term operations and the keeping of trip logs, which will allow control bodies to track the entire chain of responsibility from the farm to the destination.
Practical goal: simplifying control and reducing the administrative burden
The key practical task of the new register is the rapid verification of documents. Before its introduction, state control bodies were forced to request and cross-check paper or scattered electronic documents from different sources. Now an inspector will be able to establish in seconds whether a specific worker holds a valid certificate, whether its validity period has expired, and whether the vehicle meets the established standards. This shortens inspection times, reduces the risk of document forgery, and lessens the administrative burden on the entrepreneurs themselves, who will no longer have to carry folders of paper confirmations at every inspection. For farms and logistics companies working with animals, this means a shift from a reactive to a proactive approach: the system automatically signals an approaching certificate renewal date or the expiry of a permit.
European context: aligning Ukrainian legislation with EU standards
The introduction of a unified system for recording animal welfare documents is not an isolated measure. As the Ministry of Economy and Environment emphasises, one of the strategic priorities is to bring Ukrainian rules closer to European requirements in the field of animal welfare. In the European Union, similar mechanisms of digital record-keeping and mandatory staff certification have been in operation for a number of years and form part of a broader traceability system — the traceability of products of animal origin from farm to shelf. For Ukraine, which is pursuing a course of integration into the European economic space, the harmonisation of standards in this area reduces non-tariff barriers and increases the competitiveness of Ukrainian livestock products on export markets. In essence, the new register is an infrastructural element without which full compliance with European standards is impossible.
Broader context: the Cabinet's package of decisions in September 2026
The resolution on the State Register of Animal Welfare Documents became part of a broader package of decisions adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers during the current reporting period. In parallel, the government published a resolution on dividing air-raid alerts into yellow and red levels, with updated rules for business operations under each. At the same time, a bill on extensive simplifications for individual entrepreneurs was approved, providing in particular for a reduction in the number of reporting periods per year. A separate direction was strict budgetary savings to strengthen defence: in September the government will conduct a comprehensive analysis of all issues in order to ensure the most efficient use of budget resources. Taken together, these measures paint a picture of a systemic restructuring of the regulatory environment, in which the digitalisation of control and the reduction of administrative pressure on business become cross-cutting principles.
