Customs officers comment on reports about mass imports of second-hand clothes from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan

According to Tengrinews, in recent years, sales in Kazakhstan have grown 60 times at once. According to the statistics of the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance, last year more than 50,000 tons of clothes, shoes and accessories worn by Kazakh people were taken out of the country.

Whereas three years ago the volume of sales was only 300 tons. The average price per ton was about $2,000. Tajikistan became the main consumer of Kazakh clothes - 98% of all second-hand clothes were imported there, the rest is bought by Uzbekistan.

According to the Customs Committee of Uzbekistan, during 2022 and for the past period of 2023:

- Uzbekistan exported ready-made clothes, which were produced in the country, for $1.45 billion, weighing 126.5 thousand tons.
- Uzbekistan imported clothes worth $89.6 million, weighing 30.5 thousand tons.

In addition, according to customs officers, during this period, 2.4 tons of personal clothing of citizens who arrived in Uzbekistan were imported into the country.

“The official import of goods of this type (second-hand) from the Republic of Kazakhstan to our country is not registered,” the committee said.

They also reminded that Uzbeks working in foreign countries can bring in personal clothing and other goods within the duty-free limit ($1,000) using courier services.