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Uzbekistan is considered one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Uzbekistan has the fourth largest gold deposits in the world. The country mines 80 tons of gold annually, seventh in the world. Uzbekistan's copper deposits rank tenth in the world and its uranium deposits twelfth. The country's uranium production ranks seventh globally. The Uzbek national gas company, Uzbekneftegas, ranks 11th in the world in natural gas production with an annual output of 60 to 70 billion cubic meters. The country has significant untapped reserves of oil and gas: there are 194 deposits of hydrocarbons in Uzbekistan, including 98 condensate and natural gas deposits and 96 gas condensate deposits.

Along with many Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) economies, Uzbekistan's economy declined during the first years of transition and then recovered after 1995, as the cumulative effect of policy reforms began to be felt.

Economic production is concentrated in commodities. In 2011, Uzbekistan was the world's seventh-largest producer and fifth-largest exporter of cotton as well as the seventh largest world producer of gold. It is also a regionally significant producer of natural gas, coal, copper, oil, silver and uranium. Uzbekistan's external position has been strong since 2003. Thanks in part to the recovery of world market prices of gold and cotton (the country's key export commodities), expanded natural gas and some manufacturing exports, and increasing labor migrant transfers, the current account turned into a large surplus (between 9% and 11% of GDP from 2003 to 2005) and foreign exchange reserves, including gold, more than doubled to around US$3 billion.

As a producer of oil, natural gas, gold, and as the second largest exporter of cotton, natural resources dominate the country's exports. Uzbekistan's exports also include machines and equipment, cars, refined copper, radioactive chemicals and food.

Uzbekistan's main export partners are Russia, Turkey, China, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh.

Customs requirements of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan Customs Contacts

Website: http://www.customs.uz/en/ 

Email: info@customs.uz 

Phone: (8 371) 120-76-33

Uzbekistan is a landlocked country situated in Central Asia, bordered by five countries: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. The country is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC), General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU), World Customs Organization (WCO)World Trade Organization (observer) and other international organizations. 

Import taxes/Tariffs

There are three types of import taxes in Uzbekistan: 

- customs duties on imports (henceforth referred to as tariffs)

- excise taxes that are levied on imported goods 

- the Road Fund tax on imported vehicles

Duties are based on the CIF cost of the goods. Duties are payable in Uzbek currency (UZS) at the rate of exchange set by the National Bank of Uzbekistan on the day of customs clearance.

VAT and Surcharge

There is a customs surcharge (processing fee) of 0.2% of customs value. A 20% Value Added Tax is levied on the duty value. Excise tax is levied in addition to VAT on certain luxury goods such as alcohol and cigarettes.

The country’s legislation provides for antidumping and countervailing duties, but no such duties have been imposed in practice.

There are five ad valorem tariff rates in the tariff schedule: 0%, 5%, 10%, 30% and 40%.

Many goods are subject to an ad valorem tariff or a specific tariff, whichever is greater. There are also compound tariffs which are a combination of an ad valorem and a specific tariff. To protect domestic producers, tariffs on many imported final goods, such as automobiles, furniture and textile products, are quite high, while tariffs on raw materials, intermediate goods, machinery and equipment are generally low.

In what appears to be an internal inconsistency in Uzbekistan’s trade regime, a non-zero tariff (which raises the domestic price of the taxable commodity) is levied even on some goods whose exports are prohibited or licensed to keep their domestic prices down (such as grains, flour, meat and sugar).

Import License

The time needed to export from and import to Uzbekistan has reduced over the past few years, but still it remains quite long. The country’s land-locked location far away from major seaports is one reasons for this, and why the cost of exporting from and importing to Uzbekistan is high.

Certain products such as radioactive materials, explosives, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, biological substances, rare metals are restricted to import in to Kazakhstan. The importer well in advance of importing such goods to Uzbekistan must apply for the special import license. Receiving an import license is complicated and can take up to three months or longer period. The importer/exporter may be required to provide samples for analysis along with the complete technical data in Russian to facilitate the process. Import licenses are frequently restricted to time limits and quantity as well. So be sure to check with Globalink prior to shipping such items to Uzbekistan.

Documents required for registration of company as importer/exporter at customs office:

(All documents must be notarized copies.)

1. Company’s Charter or Article of Association (not required for Representative Offices)

1. Registration Certificate bearing importers full legal address.

1. Statistic card issued by the city Statistics department.

1. Certificate from the Local Tax Inspection confirmation company’s’ registration and tax identification number.

1. Letter from the bank-confirming company’s account details.

1. Application requesting the head of Customs department for the registration of the company as an importer/exporter in customs data bank.

1. Certificate from tax inspection confirming the company is in good standing with the tax department.

Sources:

http://www.ucentralasia.org/downloads/UCA-IPPA-WP4-Uzbekistan%20and%20Regional%20Trade.pdf 

http://web.ita.doc.gov/tacgi/overseasnew.nsf/alldata/Uzbekistan