Importers of oxygen concentrators complain about administrative hassles at customs control

“For every patient with pneumonia in foreign countries, a pulse oximeter is attached to the hand, making it easier to breathe by wearing special masks on oxygen concentrators. It eliminates the patient’s respiratory failure. To this end, if necessary, special aircraft should be provided, and measures should be taken to facilitate the import of oxygen concentrators by entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan,” the President said.

Then, by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, the procedure for importing medicines and medical devices to Uzbekistan, including oxygen concentrators, was simplified.

However, charity organizations and entrepreneurs, who contacted Kun.uz editorial office, complained that the import of oxygen concentrators is still difficult.

Khusan Radjamatov, an employee of the BRICKET PLUS LLC:

“It took me a day at the airport to sign a contract because they asked me to come to the contracting department the next day as if it was not possible to sign a contract on that day. How many lives can be saved in lost time, after all? At the customs control, customs duties for oxygen concentrators were calculated in kilograms, not by units. For some reason, the base calculation price was set high. As a result, the final price of the goods we brought in increased.

It turns out that a hygienic certificate is required to bring pulse meters without customs control. This medical device measures saturation and pulse. We did not understand why it needed a hygienic certificate. Then, for some reason, they charged 1.2% instead of 0.2% for customs clearance. At first, we were not allowed to take the devices as they remained at the customs control, only with the intervention of Kun.uz correspondent and Nurbek Salomov from the Customs Committee, we were able to quickly take our products from customs.

During the pandemic, VAT should be removed when importing oxygen concentrators and pulse oximeters. Not only during customs clearance, but also during sales taxes should not be levied, as this will ultimately lead to additional costs for families who buy these goods and keep the patient at home.”

Komoliddin Ikromov, an entrepreneur, co-founder and head of the Agribusiness Association of Uzbekistan:

“Let me tell you from the beginning. As the pandemic intensified and people began to look for oxygen concentrators, we, entrepreneurs and charity organizations decided to bring these devices from abroad for a noble cause. We shared the responsibilities: someone was responsible for the cost of the equipment, someone for the travel, someone for the delivery, and volunteers were responsible for delivering the equipment to the right places.

First of all, let me tell you what to look for when buying oxygen concentrators from China:

•  It should be noted that the company that produces oxygen concentrators is on the “white list”. It will be even better if the enterprise is CE – European certified or FDA – American Food and Drug Safety Agency certified. That is, you need to make sure that the company produces a good product, that the product is not banned;
•  The product should be inspected to ensure that no substandard product is added;
•  There are brokers in China who prepare documents, and their cost should also be taken into account.

Now about the problems we face and their solutions:

•  It was difficult to load the product on a plane and send it home. In particular, we waited for the next flight. Therefore, it would be useful to have additional flights. These devices are a matter of life and death for patients.
•  At the customs control, we were told that our oxygen concentrators were subject to VAT. When we investigated, the oxygen concentrator was not included in the list of tax-exempt medical equipment, although it should have been included. Only after our appeal to the mass media and the official of the Customs Committee, the VAT payment was delayed for 120 days. It should be noted that such a delay does not solve the problem. 

The more oxygen concentrators we bring in now, the better it will be: it reaches sick families, the selling price goes down, and even the less affluent category can afford it. Our team brought 1,000 oxygen concentrators for the first time and sent 200 of them to charity organizations and regions as a charity. We plan to bring another 1,000 units. 

We also want to say to entrepreneurs that we need to work together, so there will be less challenges.”