SUMMARY
The purpose of the article is to define and argue the key criteria and directions of foreign trade policy, which become crucial in conditions of country’s integration into global value chains, as well as to reveal the impact of major regulatory barriers to trade that prevent Ukraine’s integration into global value chains. The subject-matter of the study is the peculiarities of foreign trade regulation under global value chains expansion. Methodology. The methodological principles of research involve the joint application of a set of well-known common scientific methods, as well as special research methods in economics, such as the method of system and structural analysis to generalize spheres, directions, and tools of GVC-friendly trade regulation. Results. The essence of global value chains as a modern concept for international trade analysis is revealed. New approaches to trade and economic policy aimed at improving the country’s participation in global value chains are analysed. Key spheres, in which bottlenecks for global value chains usually occur, are investigated. The growing importance of liberalization of trade in services in order to integrate into GVC successfully is stressed. Main barriers that prevent the Ukrainian economy from effective integration into GVC are outlined. Basic shortcomings in Ukraine’s export control system that constrain the expansion of the country’s exports of dual-use goods and technologies are outlined. Practical implications. The article contains a comprehensive set of tools and regulations to revise approaches, directions, and efficiency criteria of governmental foreign trade policy according to global value chains concept. Value/originality. Identified requirements for foreign trade policy allowed investigating the effectiveness and perspectives of Ukraine’s trade and investment regime from a GVC point of view.