As was noted during the meeting of the Committee, the purpose of the adoption of the draft law (No.3445) is improving the legislation in the sphere of the protection of the animal world and bringing provisions of laws Ukraine in line with international environmental treaties.
The draft law contains ways of bringing in line with the requirements of the Berne Convention the following laws of Ukraine: "On the animal world," "On the nature reserve fund of Ukraine," "On the protection of animals from cruelty," "On hunting economy and hunting," "On drinking water and drinking water supply."
Thus, in order to implement the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds they offer to make amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On hunting economy and hunting," which introduces a ban on hunting with the use of lead shot within all zones of special treatment of the area of sanitary protection of drinking water sources.
The Law of Ukraine "On Ukraine's accession to the Convention of 1979 on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats" dated October 29, 1996 allows regulating the population of wolves on the territory of Ukraine only in limited number and under control. Currently, according to the Law of Ukraine "On hunting economy and hunting," the wolf is a binary kind, included both in the list of game animals subject to protection in non-hunting season, and at the same time in the list of harmful animals subject to the killing during a year, which is a gross violation of the Berne Convention.
Thus, Ukraine is obliged to remove the wolf from the list of pests mentioned in Article 33 of the Law of Ukraine "On hunting economy and hunting," having preserved only the status of game animal, which will favor strengthening of the fight against poaching and create conditions for hunting farms to receive funds to their budget from the production of a valuable fur-bearing animal, namely the wolf.
The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine proposes to adopt the draft law as a basis. The same proposal provided taking into account a number of remarks, was made by the Central Scientific Experts Office of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
According to Article 33 of this Law, wolf hunting can be carried out during the hunting for other kinds of animals in the hunting season and also in non-hunting season under the permissions.
The draft law also provides for prohibiting the use of gas, poison for wild animals, destruction of natural habitats of wild animals (as required by the Berne Convention) and making amendments to the Laws of Ukraine "On the animal world" and "On the protection of animals from cruelty."