Shavkat Mirziyoyev criticizes trade supervision system

The movement of imported products from the border to the final consumer should be controlled by customs and tax authorities through a single electronic system, the President said. For example, one can link customs declarations with electronic invoices and online cash registers.

Responsible officials were instructed to fully digitize the process of issuing permits and lab testing conclusions, to introduce an automated risk analysis system.

The meeting participants discussed in detail the issue of reducing the transit time of goods through border points.

The analysis shows that over the past three years, the number of people crossing the border with neighboring countries has doubled, and the number of vehicles almost tripled. The existing infrastructure can hardly withstand this mounting flow.

For example, some veterinary and quarantine control points lack the essential equipment. Border health and epidemiological surveillance services are also barely prepared for external risks.

The work on the distribution of freight traffic is not properly organized. The lack of a situational center for remote monitoring of the activities of customs posts has been leading to long queues at them. This implies redundant costs for both entrepreneurs and the national budget.

In this regard, the responsible executives were instructed to outfit the border posts with modern technologies and put into operation a responsible center by October 1 this year. Shavkat Mirziyoyev pointed out the need for introducing a “one-stop” cargo inspection system at border crossing points.

The President insisted that the foreign trade control departments closely interact and exchange experience with foreign colleagues, organize test laboratories in our country and arrange for the shipment of goods along with permits that meet foreign requirements.

The importance of harmonizing the national legislation with international agreements in the field of customs, sanitation and epidemiology, transport, standardization, veterinary medicine and quarantine was emphasized to simplify the processes of Uzbekistan’s foreign economic activity.

Special attention at the meeting was paid to human resources policy. It was indicated that the training process and quality at the Customs Institute hardly meet modern requirements. Thus, as Shavkat Mirziyoyev suggested, it is crucial to improve the learning system at the Institute and also retrain the staff of the veterinary and quarantine services on international standards. The meeting participants also expounded on the issue of capacity building projects in the framework of an agreement with the World Customs Organization.