Uzbekistan toughens penalties for illegal trade of precious metals and stones

Recent amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Responsibility aim to curb the unauthorized circulation of high-value materials by establishing a clear legal framework for administrative and criminal liability.

Under the updated Article 170 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility, the unauthorized purchase or sale of these materials will result in the confiscation of the items involved. Offenders face up to 15 days of administrative arrest. For individuals to whom administrative arrest cannot be applied, the law mandates a fine ranging from 10–20 BCA (base calculating amount).

The legal reforms introduce a tiered approach to enforcement. If a person commits the same offense after already being subjected to administrative penalties, the violation escalates to a criminal matter. The Criminal Code now stipulates that repeat offenders may face fines between 75–100 BCA, or up to 2–3 years of correctional labor. In more severe cases, the court may impose a restriction of liberty or a prison sentence for a term of up to 1 year.

To ensure clarity in judicial proceedings, the Criminal Code now includes specific definitions for the materials subject to these regulations. Precious metals are defined as gold, silver, platinum, and metals of the platinum group, including palladium, iridium, rhodium, ruthenium, and osmium, in any form or state. This encompasses bullion, refined forms, alloys, raw materials, and industrial waste. However, the law explicitly excludes jewelry, household items made from these metals, and related scrap from this specific definition.

Similarly, precious stones are identified as natural diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and alexandrites, as well as natural pearls in both raw and processed forms. As with metals, finished jewelry and household items, along with their scrap, are not categorized under these specific restrictive trade definitions.