Uzbekistan ratifies preferential trade agreement with Afghanistan

Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a resolution on March 6 approving the ratification of the preferential trade agreement between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. The document has been published on the government legal portal Lex.uz.

The agreement was originally signed by Laziz Kudratov, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade, and Nuriddin Azizi, Afghanistan’s Minister of Industry and Commerce on June 10, 2025, on the sidelines of the Tashkent International Investment Forum.

The Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade and the State Customs Committee have been designated as the authorized bodies responsible for implementing the agreement on behalf of Uzbekistan.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will formally notify the Afghan side once Uzbekistan completes all procedures required for the agreement to enter into force.

The Cabinet of Ministers and other relevant state agencies have been tasked with overseeing the implementation of the agreement’s provisions.

Plans to sign the preferential trade agreement between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan were first announced in August 2024.

According to earlier reports presented at a business forum, the agreement provides for the removal of customs duties on 14 categories of goods. It also envisages simplified procedures for issuing phytosanitary permits for Afghan agricultural products and expanded support measures for exporters.

In February, Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev held online talks with Afghan Minister Nuriddin Azizi. During the negotiations, the sides agreed to accelerate the entry into force of the preferential trade agreement and to work jointly on advancing investment projects and industrial cooperation.

The two countries also plan to hold another joint business forum in Kabul after the end of Ramadan.