President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree on measures to develop agricultural cooperation in the fruit and vegetable industry.
The document envisages creation and widespread use of the institution of a cooperative association of independent and interrelated agricultural enterprises, farmers and owners of backyards based on the principles of voluntariness and share participation in established agricultural associations.
In 2019-2020, as an experiment, agricultural associations will be organized in Gallaaral and Zamin districts of the Jizzakh region, Bulungur and Urgut districts of the Samarkand region, Altyaryk and Kuva districts of the Fergana region, Kibray and Parkent districts of the Tashkent region to carry out joint activities on production, preparation, storage and realization of fruits and vegetables.
The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economy and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan jointly with the Council of Farmers, farmers and owners of backyards of Uzbekistan, following the results of the experiment, before December 1, 2020, were instructed to make proposals on the advisability of extending the institution of a cooperative union of agricultural associations in other regions of the country.
The document establishes that members of an agricultural association may be farmers and owners of backyards, as well as other individuals and legal entities engaged in the production and provision of services for procurement, transportation, storage and marketing of fruits and vegetables. Membership in them is voluntary and is carried out on a share basis by introducing membership fees (shares) in the amount stipulated by the constituent documents.
Members of the agricultural association are not liable for obligations of the agricultural association and bear the risk of losses associated with activities of the agricultural association within the limits of the value of their contributions (shares), unless otherwise established by the constituent documents.
Land plots of members of agricultural associations are not subject to optimization and seizure, except for cases provided for by the Land Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In this case, the land acquisition of members of agricultural associations is carried out exclusively by a court decision.
From March 1, 2019, an order is introduced in accordance with which members of agricultural unions specialized in the production of fruits and vegetables have the right to independently decide on the placement of agricultural crops and their subsequent replacement, and from January 1, 2020 – with the condition that, by February 1 of the harvest year, the relevant data be entered into the register of fruit and vegetable crops.
