Uzbekistan making changes aimed at harmonizing its legislation with WTO agreements

According to Gazeta.uz, a number of countries that are negotiating WTO membership have raised objections to certain clauses in the legislation, and Uzbekistan is making changes to it in this regard.

Due to the document, changes will be made, which provide for the cancellation of the procedure for exemption from mandatory assessment of conformity of products imported from individual countries from January 1, 2024.

The procedure for labeling imported goods in the national language will also be amended from January 1, 2024. In particular, for the customs clearance of goods into the “free circulation (import)” regime, they are not required to be marked in the state language. In the event that some types of consumer goods imported according to the list approved by the Cabinet of Ministers (except for goods that do not have consumer packaging and are imported for personal use) are not marked in the state language (Uzbek alphabet based on Latin script) by the manufacturer, the manufacturer’s representative and the importer, it is forbidden to issue a certificate of conformity and a sanitary-epidemiological report for these goods (except for the cases provided for by legal documents).

From January 1, 2025, the customs clearance fee in the amount of 1.2% of the customs value for the import of medicines and medical devices will be canceled. In connection with the cancellation of this payment, the President issued an order to submit proposals for alternative financing of the implementation of relevant tasks until 2024.

In addition, proposals on the following issues should be developed and submitted to the government:

•  automation (digitization) of the licensing process for the import of goods – until October 1;
•  bringing the subsidy system to cover transport costs in line with WTO requirements – until January 1, 2024.

Until November 1, a task was given to prepare proposals for the unification of the rates of customs fees charged for the clearance of goods in the “export” and “import” customs regimes in accordance with the requirements of the WTO.

The decree will come into force on January 1, 2024, and the amendments to the legislation will come into force on January 1, 2025.

Reportedly, the clauses that provide for the cancellation of the national certificate requirement and the list of countries with a high quality and control system for the import of certified and declared equipment, components, raw materials, measuring and transport vehicles, chemical reagents, and lifting mechanisms will be removed.

Currently, excise stamps for marking alcoholic products are issued to domestic producers only after paying 50% of the nominal value of excise stamps, and to importers only after paying the full amount of excise tax. From 2025, this amount will be 50% for both categories.

Negotiations on Uzbekistan’s WTO membership resumed in July 2020 after an almost 15-year hiatus (the meeting that year was the fourth meeting). Speaking at a conference held before the WTO 5th meeting in 2022, Sardor Umurzakov, who was working as a Deputy PM at that time, called on WTO members to be more flexible and assured that Uzbekistan intends to complete the membership process as soon as possible.

In April of this year, it was reported that Uzbekistan has almost completed negotiations with three countries on joining the WTO. The working group includes a total of 47 countries, active negotiations are being conducted with 31 countries.

Earlier, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev stated that the country must join the WTO as part of its strategy to double its exports. He noted that he expects to achieve significant results in joining the international organization in 2023.