RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/ACC/UZB/2
21 October 1998
(98-4079)
Working Party on the
Accession of UzbekistanOriginal:  English
ACCESSION OF UZBEKISTAN
Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Régime
In a communication dated 8 December 1994 (PC/W/ 20), the Government Uzbekistan applied
for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
At its meeting on 21 December 1994, the General Council established a Working Party with the
following terms of reference:  "To examine the app lication of the Government of Uzbekistan to accede
to the WTO Agreement under Article XII, and to submit to the General Council recommendations
which may include a draft Protocol of Accession."  The membership is open to all WTO Members
indicating their wish to serve on the Working Party.
In accordance with the established procedures (W T/ACC/1), the Secretariat is circulating the
attached Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Régime received from the Government of Uzbekistan.
WTO Members wishing to submit questions on the Memorandum are invited to do so by
4 December 1998 for transmission to the authorities of Uzbekistan.
_______________WT/ACC/UZB/2
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRO DUCTION................................................................................................................. .........1
II. ECONOMY, ECONOMIC POLI CIES AND FORE IGN T RADE ...........................................2
1. Economy...................................................................................................................... ....................2
(a) General description (territory, population, economic specialisation, main economic indicators). ..2
(b) Current econom ic situ ation. ................................................................................................. ............5
2. Economic Policies............................................................................................................ ...............6
(a) Main directions of the ongoing economic policies; tactical and strategic goals of the economic
policies;  pricing policy;  economic development plans;  privatisation plans; sectoral priorities;
regional developmen t plans; other .............................................................................................. .....6
(i) Guidelines of the ongoing economic policie s; their tactical and strategic goals................6
(ii) Pricing policy............................................................................................................. ..........7
(iii) The system of the state order. ............................................................................................ ..8
(iv) Privatisation and privatisation plans. .................................................................................8(v) Economic development plans/sectoral priorities...............................................................11(vi) Regional development plans. .............................................................................................13
(b) Monetary and fi scal policy.................................................................................................. ...........13
(i) Monetary and credit policy................................................................................................13
(ii) Taxes. ..................................................................................................................... ............15
(iii) Banking. .................................................................................................................. ...........18
(c) Foreign exchange and payments system; relations with the IMF, application of foreign
exchange controls if any....................................................................................................... ..........18
(i) Foreign exchange control foreign exchange rates. ...........................................................18
(ii) Convertibility and payments. .............................................................................................19(iii) Relations with International Monetary Fund ....................................................................20
(d) Foreign and domestic investment policies. ................................................................................... .20
(e) Competitio n policy.......................................................................................................... ...............22
3. Foreign trade in goods and services:  volume and value of trade, exports and imports,
foreign trade balance, structure of trade, trade by geographic areas and dynamics of
trade, accompanying statistical data and information on publications (annex 1 refers).......24
4. Domestic trade in services, including the value and composition of foreign direct
investments.................................................................................................................... ................25
5. Information on financial movements relate d to nationals working abroad, remittances,
etc............................................................................................................................ .......................25
6. Information on growth in trade in goods and services over recent years and forecast for
years to come. ................................................................................................................. ..............25
III. FRAMEWORKS   FOR  FORMULAT ING AND  ENFORCING THE POLICIES
AFFECTING FOREIGN  TRADE  IN  GOODS AND TRADE  IN   SERVICES.................25
1. Powers of  legislative,  executive  and judicial branches of the government...........................25
(a) Powers of the Executive Authority. .......................................................................................... .....26
(i) The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.....................................................................26
(ii) The Cabinet  of  Ministers................................................................................................. .27
(b) Powers of the Legislature................................................................................................... ............27
(c) Powers of th e Judiciary ..................................................................................................... .............28
2. Governmental entities, responsible  for making and implementing policies affecting trade 28
3. Division of authority between central and sub-central governments......................................29
(i) Regional Executive Administration ...................................................................................29WT/ACC/UZB/2
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(ii) City and district Khokimiats ..............................................................................................3 0
(iii) The Republic of Karakalpakstan........................................................................................30
4. Any legislative programmes or plans to change the regulatory regime ..................................30
5. Laws and legislative acts.................................................................................................... ..........31
6. Description of  court, arbitration or administrative  tribunals or procedures.......................31
(a) Court pr ocedures ............................................................................................................ ................31
(b) Arbitration procedures ...................................................................................................... .............32
(c) Administrativ e procedures ................................................................................................... ..........32
IV. POLICIES AFFECTIN G TRADE IN  GOODS ........................................................................33
1. Import Regulations ........................................................................................................... ...........33
(a) Registration requirements  on import tr ansactions..........................................................................33
(i) Import contract registration ..............................................................................................33
(b) Characteristics of  national tariffs, customs tariff nomenclature (harmonised system), types of
duties, a general description of the customs tariff structure, weighted average level of duties onmain groups of customs tariffs. application of   MFN tariff rates, tariff preferences......................33
(i) Import customs tariffs ...................................................................................................... ..34
(ii) Most Favoured Nation Treatment......................................................................................34(iii) Customs tariff nomenclature..............................................................................................3 5
(iv) Weighted average level of import duties............................................................................35(v) Tariff preferences.......................................................................................................... .....35
(c) Tariff Quotas, Ta riff Exemptions............................................................................................ .......35
(d) Other duties and charges, specifying  any fees for serv ices rendered.............................................36
(i) Customs fees/charges........................................................................................................ .37
(e) Quantitative restrictions of import, including prohibitions, quota and licensing systems .............38
(i) Quotas...................................................................................................................... ..........38
(ii) Import prohibitions........................................................................................................ ....39
(f) Import licensing  procedures................................................................................................. ..........39
(g) Other borde r meas ures ....................................................................................................... ............39
(h) Customs valuation........................................................................................................... ...............39
(i) Other custom s formal ities ................................................................................................... ...........39
(j) Pre-shipmen t inspec tion..................................................................................................... ............39
(k) Application of domes tic taxes to  impor ts.................................................................................... ...40
(i) Value Added Tax (VAT) .....................................................................................................40
(ii) Excise tax ................................................................................................................. ..........41
(l) Rules of  origin............................................................................................................. ...................41
(m) Anti-dumpi ng regime ......................................................................................................... ............41
(n) Countervailin g duty regime.................................................................................................. ..........42
(o) Safeguard  measures.......................................................................................................... ..............42
2. Export Regulations........................................................................................................... ............43
(a) Registration requirements  for export operations............................................................................4 3
(b) Customs tariff nomenclature, types of dutie s, duty rates, weight ed average rates.........................43
(c) Quantitative export restrictions, including prohibitions, quotas and licensing systems.................43
(i) General description of the system. the scope of application and objectives .....................43
(d) Export licensing  procedures................................................................................................. ..........43
(i) Prohibitions. ............................................................................................................... .......45
(e) Other measures, e.g. minimum export prices, voluntary export restrictions, orderly marketing
arrangem ents ................................................................................................................... ...............45
(i) Minimum export prices ......................................................................................................4 5
(ii) Excise ta x on exports. ..................................................................................................... ...45
(f) Export financing, subsidy and promotion policies.........................................................................45
(g) Export performan ce requir ements............................................................................................. .....46WT/ACC/UZB/2
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(h) Import duty drawback schemes................................................................................................ ......46
3. Internal policies affectin g foreign trade in goods......................................................................47
(a) Industria l polic y ........................................................................................................... ..................47
(b) Technical norms and standards, including the measures applied at the border with a respect of
import (see Annex 5 to this memorandum)....................................................................................47
(c) Sanitary and phytosanitary measures, includ ing the measures in respect of imports.....................47
(d) Trade-related in vestment measures........................................................................................... .....48
(e) State-trading practices (See Annex 6 to this memorandum)..........................................................48
(f) Free z ones .................................................................................................................. ....................48
(g) Free econom ic areas......................................................................................................... ..............49
(h) Trade-related envi ronmental policies........................................................................................ .....49
(i) Special regulations related to the mixing of component of different goods, depending on the
source of th eir or igin......................................................................................................... .............49
(j) Government-mandated coun ter-trade a nd barter............................................................................49
(k) Trade agreements leading to c ountry-specific quota  allocation.....................................................49
(l) Government procurement practices, including a general legal regime and procedures of
applications linked with tenders and award of contracts................................................................50
(m) Regulation of tr ade in transit.............................................................................................. ............50
4. Policies affecting the foreign trade in agricul tural goods .........................................................51
(a) Imports, including a detailed description of cross-border restrictive measures:  customs duties
and/or any other such restrictive measures..................................................................................... 51
(b) Exports, including a detailed description, budgetary expenditure and any privileges in respect
of all export s ubsidy measures ................................................................................................. ......51
(c) Export prohibitions  and rest rictions ........................................................................................ .......51
(d) Export credits, export credit guar antees or insura nce programmes ...............................................51
(e) Domestic policies, including a description, budgetary expenditure and any revenue foregone
involved in each of the domestic support measures.......................................................................52
5. Policies affecting foreign trade in oth er sectors.........................................................................52
(a) Textile s regime............................................................................................................. ..................52
(b) Policies affecting the foreign trade in other ma jor sectors.............................................................52
V. TRADE-RELATED INTELLECTUAL  PROPERTY REGIME............................................52
1. General...................................................................................................................... ....................52
(a) Intellectual property policy ................................................................................................ ............52
(b) Agencies responsible for the development of the intellectual property rights policy and its
implementation (com petent bodies) .............................................................................................. .53
(c) Membership in international inte llectual property conventions.....................................................54
(d) Application of national and MFN tr eatment to foreig n nationals. .................................................54
(e) Fees and taxes. ............................................................................................................. ..................55
2. Substantive standards of protection, incl uding procedures for the acquisition and
maintenance of intellectua l property rights...............................................................................58
(a) Copyright and related rights, including rights of performers, producers of phonograms and
broadcasting or ganisations. .................................................................................................... ........59
(b) Trademarks, includ ing servic e marks......................................................................................... ....59
(c) Geographical indications, includ ing appellations of origin............................................................60
(d) Industrial designs. ......................................................................................................... .................61
(e) Paten ts. .................................................................................................................... .......................62
(i) Utility models protection. .................................................................................................. 63
(f) Plant variety and anim al breeds pr otection. ................................................................................. ..64
(g) Layout designs of integrated circuits ....................................................................................... ......65
(h) Requirements on undisclosed information, including trade secrets and test data ..........................65
(i) Any other categories of intellectua l property............................................................................... ..65
3. Measures to control abuse of intellectual prop erty rights........................................................66WT/ACC/UZB/2
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4. Enforcement.................................................................................................................. ................66
(a) Civil judicial proced ures and remedies. ..................................................................................... ....66
(b) Provisional  measures........................................................................................................ ..............67
(c) Any administrative pro cedures and remedies. ...............................................................................67
(d) Any special border measures................................................................................................. .........68
(e) Criminal pr ocedures......................................................................................................... ..............68
5. Laws, decrees, regulations and other legal acts relating to the above.....................................69
6. Statistical data on application for and grants of intellectual property rights as well as any
statistical data on their enforcement .......................................................................................... 72
VI. TRADE IN  SERVI CES  REGIME............................................................................................72
1. General...................................................................................................................... ....................72
2. Policy affecting tr ade in services........................................................................................... ......72
(a) Government departments, agencies, professional associations or other bodies  with authority
or a role relevant to the c onduct of servic e activit ies. ....................................................................72
(b) Judicial, arbitral  or administrative  procedures providing for the review of or remedies in
relation to administrative decisions  affectingtrade in servic es.......................................................76
(c) Provisions, including those in international agreements, concerning qualification requirements
and procedures,  technical standards and licenses and/or registration for the supply of services. .76
(d) Provisions governing the existence and operation of monopolies or exclusive service suppliers .76
(e) Provisions relating to protective measur es  in respect of trade in se rvice......................................76
(f) Provisions to international transfer and paym ents for current trans actions in services..................76
(g) Provisions to capital transactions  affecting the suppl y of services ................................................76
(h) Provisions governing the procurement by governmental  agenci es of services.............................76
(i) Provisions concerning any form of aid,  grant, domestic  subsidy, tax incentive or promotion
scheme affecting tr ade in se rvices............................................................................................. .....77
3. Market  Access  And  National  Treatment................................................................................77
(a) Limitations  on the number of service s uppliers. ...........................................................................7 7
(b) Limitations on the total value of se rvice transactions  and assets. ..................................................77
(c) Limitations on the total number of service operations or on the total quantity of service output..77
(d) Limitations on the total number of natural persons that may be employed in a particular
service se ctor................................................................................................................. .................77
(e) Restrictions on, or requirements of specific types of legal entity through which a service may
be supplied. ................................................................................................................... .................77
(f) Limitations on the particip ation of fore ign capital......................................................................... 77
(g) Measures providing for less favourable regime than that of the treatment accorded to national
services or serv ices supp liers. ................................................................................................ ........78
4. Most Favored Nation Treatment. ............................................................................................... 78
5. Description  of  the  market and  the  mechanism  for regulating  the most  prominent
service  sectors. .............................................................................................................. ...............78
(a) Legal se rvices .............................................................................................................. ...................78
(b) Telecommunicat ion services.................................................................................................. ........79
(c) Health se rvices . ............................................................................................................ ..................81
(d) Education servi ces.......................................................................................................... ................81
(e) Banking servi ces. ........................................................................................................... ................82
(f) Transport servi ces. ......................................................................................................... ................83
(g) Insur ance ................................................................................................................... .....................85WT/ACC/UZB/2
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I. INTRODUCTION
The Republic of Uzbekistan declared its independence on 31 August 1991.
Since independence, the Government has steadily followed its major economic objective of a
gradual transformation of the centrally planned eco nomy inherited from the former Soviet Union into
a socially-oriented market economy. Major emphasis is put on the creation of a new basis and on the
improvement of the existing industrial basis of the economy.
Uzbekistan’s unique approach to the reconstruction and progress is based on the principles of
the market economy that proved a success in world practices and on a  strict compliance with the
ethnic foundations, traditions, customs and mentality of the Uzbek people.
The Government adheres to five basic principles in its efforts of reform: (i) the economy takes
precedence over politics; (ii) the state is a major reformer, which determines priorities, devises and
administers the policy of reform; (iii) the rule of law in all areas of life and business; (iv)  transition to
the market economy goes hand in hand with efficient measures of social protection; and (v)  the
transition to the market relations must be accomplished in stages, on account of  local economic and
social conditions.
The stage-by-stage process of transformation is aimed at maintaining social stability during
the transitional period.
Following the policy of gradual transformation, in 1994, the Government successfully
completed the first phase of transition, involving the implementation of a broad range of reforms. Theold "command and administrative" system have been dismantled, including the state monopoly over
foreign trade. The functions of the state central economic bodies had been radically revised to meet
the requirements of a market-oriented economy. Economic relations and foreign economic activities
were substantially liberalised and the infrastructure of market-based relations began to develop
rapidly. A new system of taxation was put in plac e. A broad spectrum of a state-owned property and
economic structures was privatised or made a subject of the process of privatisation. A stock
exchange and a real estate market emerged. A two-level banking system comprised of state and
commercial banks was created. A commodity exchange, trading houses, wholesale networks, broker
agencies, insurance companies, with foreign participation, were established and began to function.
During the first stage, public order, political and social stability and peace were ensured. A
totally new social security scheme was developed and launched, and the role of local governments
(khokimiats) in administering measures of social support to needy families was enhanced.
Currently, the Republic of Uzbekistan is proceeding to its second phase of reforms, which
involves a further denationalisation and privatisation of state-owned enterprises, a furthering ofcompetitive market-based economic relations and an introduction of measures conducive to the
attraction of foreign legal and physical persons in the process of transformations.
Among the top priorities of the Government are promotion of the development of the credit
institution infrastructure required for the creation and expansion of the market economy institutions
and participants (e.g., investment funds, banks and insurance companies) and for strengthening the
securities market. In addition, particular attention is being given to the development of the secondary
securities markets. Social protection of the population also remains among the top priorities.
A major objective of the transformation efforts of the Government is a successful integration
of Uzbekistan into the world trading system. The accession to the WTO will contribute to suchWT/ACC/UZB/2
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integration and ensure the country’s access to foreign export and import markets on the most
favourable terms. The investment promoted both in new and existing productive facilities in the
Republic of Uzbekistan will be instrumental for the country’s access to external markets.
This Memorandum provides detailed information about the economy of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, its trade-related policies, legal regime and international agreements.
Economic statistics provided herein are those to the end of 1997 (unless otherwise noted),
while the information on the Governmental policies and legal regime shows the situation as of 1 July
1998. The Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan is ready to provide any additional information
that member-states of the WTO may require.
II. ECONOMY, ECONOMIC POLICIES AND FOREIGN TRADE
1. Economy
(a) General description (territory, population, economic specialisation, main economic
indicators).
Territory and Population.
The Republic of Uzbekistan is located in the middle of the geographic area known as Central
Asia.  The distance between the north and the south is 930 km and between the east and the west -
1,425 km.  The total area is 447,400 square kilometres. The borders stretch for 6,221 km.  The
Republic of Uzbekistan borders Kazakstan in the north and north-east, Kyrgyzstan in the east,Tadjikistan  in the south-east, Turkmenistan in the west, and Afghanistan  in the south.
Almost the three-fifths of land are deserts, steppes or large semi-arid areas, whilst the other
areas are the fertile valleys along the two main  rivers – the Amudarya and the Syrdarya - between the
mountain ranges. The plains are located in the south-west  and north-west, namely the Ustuart
Plateau, the delta in the lower reaches of the Amudarya and the Kizilkum Desert. The mountains andtheir foothills occupy almost the third of the country in the east and south-east.  They are a part of the
Western Tien Shan and Gissaro-Allay Ranges. The highest point in Uzbekistan is 4,643 meters above
sea level.  The climate is extremely  continental. The maximum summer temperatures are usually
above 42oC.  The average annual precipitation ranges between 200-300 millimetres, while the driest
areas of the Lower Amudarya and deserts have less than 100 millimetres of rainfall each year. Theclimate is dry, with  little precipitation, low humidity and few clouds; summers are hot and dry and
winters are short. A high seismicity, up to 8-9 points, is typical of the country’s natural conditions.
By its administrative and territorial division, the Republic of Uzbekistan consists of the
autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, 12 oblasts, 163 rayons and 119 towns. The main cities of
Uzbekistan are the capital of Tashkent ( 2,100,000 inhabitants), Samarkand (362,000), Andijan
(323,000), and Bukhara (238,000).
As of January 1, 1998, the  population was 23,772,000, of whom 62.2 per cent live in the
countryside. The population density is 53.1 persons per square km. The ethnic composition of
population is represented by Uzbeks (75.8 per cent), Russians (6 per cent), Tadjiks (4.8 per cent),
Kazaks (4.1 per cent) and by the people of other ethnic origin  (9.3 per cent), amongst whom the most
significant are Tatars, Kyrgyz and Karakalpaks.
Population growth rates are very high (on average, about 1.8 per cent per year, for the years
1990-1997).WT/ACC/UZB/2
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Uzbekistan is among the regions having excessive labour resources, where the percentage of
the population of able-bodied age is 48.9 per cent.  The breakdown of the country’s labour employed
in the economy is set forth in Table 1-11 of Annex 1 to this Memorandum.  The average life
expectancy in Uzbekistan is 70.4 years. A feature characteristic of the labour potential is its
educational level. The rate of literacy in 1995 was about 98.7 per cent. Every fourth employed person
had a higher or secondary special education. The state language is Uzbek and Russian is used as alanguage of international communication.
Various religions (Muslim, Christian, Judaism) are practised in Uzbekistan, the most
prevalent  is the Muslim religion (Sunni).
The Economic Specialisation/Agriculture.
Historically, the agricultural sector is the most significant contributor to GDP, and contributed
34.4 per cent in 1994, 28.1 per cent in 1995, 22.5 per cent in 1996 and 26.8 per cent in 1997 .  The
total area under cultivation was 4.0 million hectares in 1996, of which 37.1 per cent was under cotton,43.4 per cent - cereal crops, 8.8 per cent - fruit, 3.3 per cent - vegetables, and 7.4 per cent - other
crops, including tobacco. Three hundred thousand hectares are occupied by perennial plants and
600,000 hectares are used as subsidiary small holdings of peasants, workers and employees. Because
of the dry climate, more than 82 per cent of cultivated land has to be irrigated.
The non-state sector (private small holdings, collective farms, lease companies, co-operatives,
privatised farms and other non-state enterprises) accounts for 98 per cent of all agricultural output.
Uzbekistan is the world’s fourth largest producer of cotton and the second - in terms of cotton
– largest exporter.  Furthermore, Uzbekistan is a large producer of fruit, vegetables and raw materials
for food and food processing industries.
Agricultural production is steadily growing in Uzbekistan, having reached Sum 85.1 billion in
1995. Modification of the structure of cultivated land has led to a contraction of the production of
some crops.  However, the production of grain shar ply increased as more land that was previously
used for cotton is sown now with grain. In 1997, the output of grain reached 3.7 million tons, an
increase of more than 40 per cent compared to 1994.  (The main indicators of agricultural production
are provided in the tables of Annex 1).
The Economic Specialisation/Industry.
Industry is a next important sector, which c ontributed 17 per cent of GDP in 1994, 17.1 per
cent in 1995, 17.4 per cent in 1996 and 16  per cent in  1997.
The major industries in 1997 were
1:
− Light Industry (21.4 per cent)
− Power Engineering (11.6 per cent)
− Metallurgy (10.4  per cent)
− Fuel industry (16.4 per cent)
− Machine-Building and Metal-Working (7.6 per cent)
− Food Production and Processing (10.4 per cent)
− Chemical and Petrochemical industries (4.3 per cent)
− Others (17.9 per cent)
                                                     
1 The share of total industry output is stated in brackets.WT/ACC/UZB/2
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The power energy is a basic sector, it plays a key role in the Uzbek economy. The major
producers of electricity are hydropower and fuel  burning power stations (Charvak, Syrdaraya,
Tashkent, Navoi, Angren, etc.). The Republic of Uzbekistan possesses significant deposits of non-
ferrous metals, including gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, tin, tungsten, chromium, manganese and
rare-earth metals.  The country also has large hydrocarbon fuel deposits, including natural gas, oil and
coal. In addition, there are large deposits of other minerals, such as deposits of different salts(required, in particular, for the production of sodium), precious and semi-precious stones and raw
materials for constructions.  Uzbekistan gives a special importance to its gold mining, being the
seventh in the world in gold extraction and fifth - in  gold resources. Uzbekistan is the tenth largest
producer of natural gas in the world.
Until recently, Uzbekistan has been a net importer of oil.  However, after discovering large oil
deposits in 1992 - Mingbulak and Kokdumalak, the production of oil in the country is steadily
growing. In 1995, the production of oil doubled compared to 1990, having reached 5.169 million tons.As a result, the Republic has an opportunity both to provide enough petroleum products to the
domestic market and for export.
The production of natural gas is also steadily growing.  From 1990 to 1997, the output of
natural gas increased by 6.8 billion cubic metres, being now 51.2 billion cubic metres a year.  The
greatest proportion of natural gas is consumed in the domestic market.  Only 8 per cent is exported,mainly through the gas pipelines to the Ukraine, to some regions of Turkmenistan, and also to
Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tadjikistan. With the development of transportation facilities (gas
pipelines) it will be possible to increase the export of gas.
Metallurgy is also a large industry in Uzbekistan.  The enterprises of non-ferrous metallurgy
are  located, mainly, in industrial and mining districts adjacent to Tashkent.  They produce, primarily,copper, zinc, refractory and heat-resistant metals, and gold.  The largest enterprises of this industry are
the Almalyk and Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Works. The Chicrchik factory produces heat resistant
and refractory metals from tungsten and molybde num-containing ores discovered in Uzbekistan.
The chemical industry makes different kind of nitrous and phosphorus fertiliser, synthetic
fibre and threads, varnishes and lacquers, ammonium, synthetic detergents, pesticides, alcohol, spirits,micro-biological and cosmetic produ cts, rubber products and others.
The main role in the machine building belongs to enterprises manufacturing machines and
equipment for agriculture,  mainly, machines for cotton-growing.
A traditional branch of Uzbekistan industry is textiles and  clothing, including cotton fibre
and yarn, cotton and silk fabrics, kenaf fibre, hosie ry, footwear, etc.  Produc tion of carpets and rugs,
chinaware and haberdashery is also well developed.
Among the largest industries are food and food processing, using local raw materials and
products.  An important sub-industry is the production of cotton seed oil. Apart of this, there are many
large canneries, flour mills, milk and meat factories, factories for soft drinks and  confectioneries.
The construction materials industry is specialised, mainly, in the production of cement,
roofing, bricks,  reinforced concrete, panels and other construction materials.  The production of
marble is also an important component of this branch.
Uzbekistan also produces aircraft, automobiles, micro-vans, gas equipment, household
refrigerators, elevators, line cranes, excavators (power shovels), machine tools and abrasives.  A local
industry of consumer goods of ever yday purposes is well developed.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 5
Main economic indicators
Tables of the main economic indicators of the Republic of Uzbekistan are provided in
Annex 1 of this Memorandum.
(b) Current economic situation.
Since Uzbekistan gained its independence in 1991, the country’s economy faced significant
difficulties due to imbalances in the external and domestic sectors that had been caused by the
disintegration of the Soviet Union and by the disruption of economic links between the republics.
Despite this, Uzbekistan managed to avoid a sharp contraction of its production which was typical of
other FSU countries. The real GDP in the country fell by 18  per cent from 1991 through 1995.  Themain decline in production occurred in the years  1992-94. In 1995 GDP went down by about  1 per
cent.  In 1996, the real GDP actually increased by 1.7 per cent and in 1997 - by 5.2  per cent.
The relatively moderate economic decline experienced by Uzbekistan since its independence
is attributable to several key factors, including Governmental economic and development policies
(described below), the wealth of natural resources,  and the country’s ability to quickly diversify its
trade, bringing it to the new markets after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In 1997, the nominal GDP was Sum 987.4 billion, of which 26.8  per cent was from
agriculture, 16.0  per cent - from industry and 8.0 per cent - from construction.  Per capita GDP in
1997 equalled Sum 41,734.1.
In the early  nineties, Uzbekistan similar to all countries of the former rouble zone
experienced inflationary processes. A significant growth of the prices of energy and raw materialscoupled with a substantial growth of administrative expenditures and with an extension of large
directed credits to the state sector enterprises pushed the prices in the rouble zone to increase by the
beginning of 1993. The growth of prices was also provoked by an excessive issue of money by the
Central Bank of Russia.
In November 1993, Uzbekistan left the rouble zone, this was instrumental for the
establishment of the country’s full financial independence. By the end of 1994, due the strictmonetary, taxation and fiscal policies pursued by the Government it became possible to significantly
reduce the rate of inflation. The monthly average inflation rate was  2.1  per cent in 1997, against 4.2per cent in 1996, 6.7  per cent in 1995 and 24.5  per cent in 1994.
The budgetary deficit in 1995 amounted 2.6 per cent of GDP and 3.3 per cent in 1996. The
percentage breakdown of the major budget expenditure categories in 1996 was as follows: education -
15.6 per cent; health care - 8 per cent; welfare and cultural programmes - 10.9 per cent; and theeconomy 24.8 per cent.  (See Annex 1, Table 7, for a more complete breakdown).
In 1995, foreign trade turnover increased by 24.7 per cent compared with 1994, achieving a
level of US$6.61 billion. In 1996, foreign trade increased further, reaching US$9.31 billion.  Although
the balance of payments was positive in the first half of 1996, it became negative in the second half ofthe year due to a significant plunge of the world prices of cotton, and due to lower prices of gold and
increased prices of imported grain.
The share of the national income produced by the non-government sector has increased. In
1996, this sector contributed 68.9 per cent of the national income,  compared to 63 per cent in 1994.
The share of the non-governmental sector in the total employment has also been rising continuously,
from 38.9 per cent in 1991 to 70.2  per cent in 1996. However, the distribution of employed
population by sectors has not undergone significant changes, on the whole.  In 1995, the labourWT/ACC/UZB/2
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breakdown by different sectors was as follows: agricultural sector 41.2 per cent, industrial production
12.9 per cent, construction 6.3 per cent, and services 39.6 per cent.  At present, the number of
registered unemployed is 33.9 thousand people.
2. Economic Policies
(a) Main directions of the ongoing economic policies; tactical and strategic goals of the economic
policies;  pricing policy;  economic development plans;  privatisation plans; sectoral priorities;regional development plans; other
(i) Guidelines of the ongoing economic policies; their tactical and strategic goals.
Soon after independence, Uzbekistan embarked on the creation of a socially oriented market
economy as its fundamental macro-economic goal.  However, the process of transition from a
centrally planned economy was complicated by the disruption of the established economic links.  The
situation was further complicated by the lack of e xperience in the organisation and management of the
national economy during the transition to the market relations and by a shortage of sufficientlyqualified specialists in this area.  Therefore, th e economic policy was aimed at maintaining the macro-
economic and social stability while creating the legal and institutional infrastructure required for the
transition to the market economy.  At the same time, it became clear that the policy of maintaining
macro-economic and social stability would require a gradual and stage- by- stage transition to the
market economy.
During the first stage of economic reforms, the fundamental legislative basis of the market
economic relations was developed.
During the first phase of transition, laws on property, enterprises, entrepreneurship, foreign
economic activities, banks and banking, denationalisation and privatisation of the state property, the
development of entrepreneurship  were passed. The law-making process proceeded from twoimportant constitutional principles: freedom and equality of all types of ownership, including private
enterprises, and freedom of economic activities .
The Government managed to avoid a sharp decline of both the production and living
standards.  The system of payments was normalised, and special attention was given to the priority
sectors
2 of production.
From 1994 onwards, the economic reforms in Uzbekistan entered a new phase of market
transformation on a wider scale, involving the creation of a competitive environment and the shift of
emphasis onto market  forces as economic regulators.
On 1 July 1994, the domestic currency, the Sum, was introduced.  As a result of tight
monetary policies, the Government and the Central Bank could stabilise the exchange rate of thedomestic currency, that became additional components of the  stability in all sectors of the economy.
Furthermore, the measures for reducing state budget expenditures introduced in 1994 enabled a
reduction of the state budget deficit, bring down the rate of inflation, a saturation of the market with
goods and a liberalisation of prices.
In 1994, measures were introduced also for speeding up the  privatisation process and for
expanding its scale. Stock exchanges were established and the restructuring of medium and large state
enterprises into privately-owned ones began. A law on bankruptcy was passed, providing a basis forthe liquidation of insolvent enterprises.
                                                     
2 See, infra p. 15, the section on “Economic Development Plans/Sectoral Priorities.”WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 7
After the adoption of these measures, the economy began to show some indications that the
rates of economic decline persistent since the early 1990’s had begun to slow down. In 1995, GDP
decreased by only 1 per cent and in 1996 it had a positive growth of 1.6 per cent. By the beginning of
1997, the Government had attained its major goals of economic stabilisation, bringing down the
inflation to an acceptable level, stabilisation of the Sum exchange rate and the creation of fundamental
legal, regulatory and institutional conditions for deepening the transition process. In addition,favourable conditions has been created for the attraction of the foreign direct investment to
Uzbekistan.
The Government has also undertaken measures to reduce the dependence on the importation
of grain, meat and milk products. Substantial measur es were also introduced in order to provide the
domestic market with domestically produced oil and petroleum products; this was facilitated by the
discovery of large oil deposits, rehabilitation and construction of oil refineries.
Among such measures were the following ones:
(a) the Government made some steps reducing the area under  cotton and increasing the
production of grain. As a result of this policy, the irrigated land under cereal crops
increased from 29 per cent in 1992 to 40 per cent in 1995 and the annual production
of grain went up from 2.6 m illion tons to 3.2 million tons;
(b) in order to increase the production of milk,  meat and poultry, the Government
introduced tax privileges for producers of such products and created conditions for
extending loans to such producers on a priority basis. The Government also
undertook some other measures for deepening the process of privatisation,
corporatisation and for providing state support to enterprises of the
"Uzmyasomolprom" (Uzbek Meat and Milk  Production) Association, that provided
more incentives;
(c) after independence, with the purpose of attaining self-sufficiency in oil products, the
Government introduced some measures for increasing oil production. The production
of crude oil and gas condensate went up from 2.8 million tons in 1991 to 7.6 million
tons in 1995, while the importation of crude oil went down from 9 million tons in1991 to 1.5 million tons in 1995.
(ii) Pricing policy
Transition to price liberalisation is being implemented on a stage-by-stage basis, it has almost
finished. Only few products are still subject to direct price regulation.  The process of price
liberalisation was initiated by the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 4 of 16 January 1992.
During that period, the Government introduced a rationing system for major foodstuffs and
consumer goods to alleviate the impact of the price increase on the consumer.  The process of price
liberalisation  resumed in the second half of 1994 with the introduction of the domestic currency.
Only three items (flour, sugar and vegetable oil) remained subject to rationing.  All direct and indirect
subsidies for foodstuffs (except flour) and consumer goods were eliminated, and the regulation of
profit margins became less strict.  With the elimination of rationing and of regulation of profit
margins in early 1995, the process of price liberalisation was basically over.
All prices are now linked to cost recovery, ex cept for the prices of heating, hot water and
housing, that are still subsidised from the local budgets. Cross subsidisation from industrial customers
to households for electricity and gas remains. In addition, indirect regulation of prices exists in respect
of products of enterprises classified as monopolists in the Register of Monopolistic EnterprisesWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 8
maintained by the Ministry of Finance (khokimyats indirectly control prices of the monopolistic
enterprises entered in the local registers of regional financial departments).
In order to bring the prices of oil and petroleum products closer to world market prices, the
prices of oil were raised significantly in 1995 and again in 1996, higher than the level required for a
full cost recovery. The price of petroleum products, including the relevant VAT and the excise tax, iscurrently comparable to prices in the USA. In 1995 and 1996, the price of natural gas for industrial
customers was also substantially raised bringing  it closer to the world prices.  The price of electricity
for industrial consumers was raised in 1995 and 1996 and approached world level prices.  The tariffs
for electricity and gas for household are much lower than those for industry.  The Government is
gradually eliminating this difference. The local go vernments ("khokimyats") control retail prices and
tariffs for the following services: heat and electricity, public transportation and public utilities.
The prices of some essential pharmaceuticals (20 generic names) and land plots are still
subject to regulation by the Government.
(iii) The system of the state order.
In mid-1994, Uzbekistan almost completely replaced the system of the state order, inherited
from the former USSR, by a system of procurin g goods for the state needs at market prices.
In 1997, the state order for cotton was 30 per cent of all cotton production and it was paid for
by the Government at prevailing world market price (using the official exchange rate). The state order
for grain in 1997 was 25 per cent, and it was paid for by the Government again at the prevailing worldmarket prices. Having fulfilled the state order, the producers are free to sell the remaining crop on the
market.
(iv) Privatisation and privatisation plans.
Privatisation in Uzbekistan is being implemented in stages.
During the first phase, the Government began to privatise housing and small-scale enterprises.
By the  end of 1995, almost all housing and about 95 per cent of small-scale enterprises had beenprivatised.
The Presidential Decree of 5 January 1995 was aimed at creating private entrepreneurship and
providing incentives for it. After the Decree was issued, about 64,400 individual and small enterprises
were registered during 1995, of which 36,400 were private, about 17,300 - agricultural co-operatives,
and about 10,700 - small enterprises. The Ministry of Macroeconomics and Statistics estimated that
67 per cent of the Net Material Product (NMP) in 1995 was contributed by the non-governmental
sector.
During the second stage, the Government focused its all attention on the transformation of
state-owned enterprises into corporate legal enterprises of a different type, including the
transformation of the existing closed joint-stock companies into open ones, and also - a partial
privatisation of medium and large enterprises. By the end of 1995, almost all closed joint-stock
companies had been transformed into open ones.
By the end of 1995, significant progress had been achieved in reducing the amount of state-
owned stock in transformed enterprises, to 30 per cent on the average.  This policy was pursued by the
State Property Committee (SPC) by selling the st ate-owned stock on the Republican Stock Exchange
and through the National Investment Fund. The Government removed all restrictions on the types of
activities in which may engage privatised entities or their ability to hire labour. In 1995, under theWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 9
programme of SPC, over 1,800 state enterprises were privatised, of which about 300 were medium
and large ones.  6,700 more enterprises were privatised outside the frameworks of the SPC
programme.
During 1995, the Government jointly with the World Bank began to formulate a programme
of mass privatisation.  This programme, unlike privatisation with the help of vouchers, is being
implemented by establishing privatisation investment funds (PIFs) since June 1996.  Similar to mutual
funds, PIFs acquire stock of privatised enterprises and issue their own stock, known as the "Public
Participation Shares".  PIFs are set up by managing companies which represent private interests. They
manage their portfolios of shares on behalf of shareholders.   PIFs get capitalised by selling stock tocitizens.  The price of each share is about Sum 100 (about US$1.30), citizens are not allowed to buy
more than 100 shares in one PIF.
As of July 1998, 84 PIFs and 84 managing companies have been registered  in various regions
of  Uzbekistan. 76 PIFs had their second prospectuses of issue registered, 60 of them have finished the
sale of shares to people, 52 PIFs participated in au ctions on the sale of stock of privatised companies.
In total, since the beginning of the programme, PIFs sold shares valued at Sum 270 mill. During thefirst six months of 1998,  4 auctions were arrang ed where 1 344 thousand shares of 70 joint-stock
companies were sold for a total amount of more than Sum 450.6 mill, of which 75.1 were paid for by
the funds of PIFs and using a special state loan of Sum 1336.7 mill.
Initially, 300 medium and large scale enterprises will be subject to the mass privatisation
programme. The Government will retain 26 per cent  shares in such enterprises, 23 per cent will be
distributed among employees, 21 per cent will be sold on the Republic Stock Exchange at market
prices, and 30 per cent to be sold to PIFs at a nominal  value.  Non-residents will be able to buy shares
of such enterprises on the secondary market of the Republican Stock Exchange.  Licensed PIFs willbe eligible to borrow through special credit lines established by the Government in order to finance
the purchase of the stock of enterprises.  Every share acquired by PIF for the funds received from the
sale of shares of public participation will entitle the PIF to acquire on credit five more shares from the
Government, on the terms of a seven-year period of repayment and a four year grace period when no
interest will accrue.  The grace period is aimed at providing time for PIFs to restructure the enterpriseswhose shares they buy.  The cost of this credit programme to the Government is the privatisation
proceeds that would be received when the Government were selling enterprises for cash.
The Government also formulated a programme of support to privatised small and medium
enterprises. This programme is administered by  the Business Fund.  All privatisation proceeds
initially accrue in SPC (State Property Committee), of which 30 per cent is transferred to the Business
Fund and 30 per cent to the Ministry of Finance. The remaining proceeds are directed to local
khokimyats (local governments) for loans to enterprises and reimbursement of expenses of the
privatisation programme.
The Business Fund, established in mid-1995, is also authorised to be engaged in a wide range
of activities, including long-term loans, technical assistance, feasibility studies, leasing of foreign
equipment, trust management, factoring and brok er services. The Business Fund may also provide
loans on concessional terms (15-35 per cent interest rate, 2-5 years of grace period) for the period up
to ten years.  The Government regards the extension of subsidised credits to newly privatised
enterprises to be an essential component fo r avoiding large-scale unemployment during the
transitional period, especially in rural areas; however it has scheduled a phasing out of new loans by
2000, except to enterprises located in the most underprivileged areas.
In 1994 and 1995, the financial market was created and a number of relevant institutional
structure was established, such as the Republican Stock Exchange, the National Investment Fund, and
the National Share Depository that were designed fo r facilitating the issue of stock of privatised andWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 10
newly created joint-stock companies. In 1995, shares of a total value of Sum 1.5 billion (0.5  per cent
of GDP) were sold through the Republican Stock Exchange and other relevant institutions. During the
first six months of 1998, 2 797 deals were made on the Republican Stock Exchange, resulting in the
sale of 1 134.7 thousand shares of 244 joint-stock companies at the amount of Sum 773.4 mill. Of this
number, 167 deals were made on the secondary market where 62.0 thousand shares of 50 joint-stock
companies were sold for a total amount of Sum 250 thousand.
Developing and deepening the privatisation proc ess has led to the emergence of a new class
of proprietors. More than 4,500 former state enterprises have been transformed into joint- stock
companies. The total value of issued shares is mo re than US$1 billion. The following large enterprises
have undergone transformations: the Tashkent Aircraft Factory (manufacturer of IL-76 liners), the
Tashkent Tractor Factory (the only producer of agricultural tractors in Central Asia), the Association
"Uzbekcabel" (producer of unique multi-core cables), the Uzbek Metallurgical Works, the largest
enterprises producing chemicals, transporting oil and gas, processing food and tobacco.
Out of 6.5 million economically active members of the population, about two million people
are the shareholders of privatised enterprises.
Reforms are also carried out in the countryside. The number of private farms has reached
19,300, while in 1994 it was only 2,900. The number of small and medium private enterprises has
reached 85,000.
Pursuant to the law "On Denationalisation and Privatisation" of 19 November 1991
(amendments and modifications introduced by the Laws "On Amendments and Modifications of
Some Legislative Acts of Uzbekistan" as of 7 May 1993, 23 September 1994, 31 August 1995,
26 April 1996),   land should not be subject to privatisation , except in cases specially provided for by
law.
According to the Article 16 of the Land Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan as of
30 April 1998, "land is a state property, a wealth belonging to all nation, it is subject to a rational use,
it is protected by the state and is not a subject to a sale/purchase, exchange, gift, pledge, except in the
cases specified by legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan".
The Article 17 of the Land Code passed on April 30, 1998 specified the rights of legal and
physical persons for the plots of land:
− legal persons may have plots of land on the basis of the right to a permanent
possession, permanent use, temporary use, lease and ownership, pursuant to this Code
and other legislative acts;
− physical persons may have plots of land on the basis of  the right to a life-long and
inherited possession, permanent use, temporary use, lease and ownership, pursuant to
this Code and to other legislative acts.
According to the Article 18 of the Land Code:
− the right of legal and physical persons for the plots of land shall arise according to the
legally-specified procedure, during privatisation of  trade and service units together
with the plots of land which they are located on;WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 11
− the right of diplomatic missions or international organisations enjoying the same status
and accredited in the Republic of Uzbekistan, to own the plots of land shall arise when
buildings or parts of them to be used as mission offices, including a residence of a
mission head, are acquired together with the plots of land which they are located on, as
well as when the plots of land are acquired for the construction of mission buildings;
− the right of foreign legal and physical persons (including the members of diplomatic
corps, mass media, staff of  resident missions of firms, companies and international
organisations, regular staff of enterprises with the foreign investment, as well aspersons permanently residing and having residence permits in Uzbekistan) to own the
pots of land shall arise when premises are acquired together with the plots of land they
are located on, according to the legally-specified procedure.
(v) Economic development plans/sectoral priorities.
The following table provides a summary of the Government’s economic development plans
by industrial and sectoral priorities:
1. Electric energy:
− to attract foreign investment into the development of hydroelectric power engineering;
and
− to modernise and rehabilitate high-voltage electric grids.
2. Coal-mining:
− to restructure the sector and its enterprises by reorganising  and, when required,
liquidating enterprises;
− to develop an open coal mining for reducing production  costs; and
− to introduce energy saving technologies.
3. Oil and Gas:
− to construct and bring into operation oil refineries; and
− to develop packages of documents for international tender designed  to attract foreign
investment to oil and gas exploration and exploitation; to conduct such tenders.
4. Light Industry:
− to speed up the structural transformations of light industry enterprises, to search for
new markets of supply, both in the CIS and outside; and
− to purchase modern equipment.
5. Non-Ferrous Metallurgy:
− to attract the foreign investment into the development of this sectorWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 12
6. Machine-Building and Metal Processing:
− to organise the production of machines, equipment (and their spare parts) for (i)
processing agricultural products, (ii) mechanising small peasant and family farms, and(iii) applying them in  coal mining.
7. Electric technology:
− to orient enterprises to the production of complicated electrical appliances and
equipment for generation of electricity; and
− to create an electro-technical industry of consumer appliances.
8. Gold-mining:
− to attract the foreign investment to the exploration and exploitation of gold deposits.
9. Food production/processing:
− to establish small or medium production for processing milk, meat, fruit and vegetables
in localities.
10. Pharmaceutical industry
− to attract foreign investment to the establishment of the domestic pharmaceutical
industry
11. Agriculture:
− to attract the foreign investment to modernisation of agricultural production; and
− to set up joint ventures with foreign participation for the modernisation of agricultural
production, including export-oriented production.
12. Construction:
− to attract foreign investment to construction; and
− to encourage the manufacturing of energy-saving construction materials.
13.  Automobile Industry:
− to establish and expand the domestic automobile industry supplying the domestic market
and exporting to the markets of the neighbouring countries.
14.  Aircraft-construction:
− to support and modernise the existing production of aircraft and spare parts.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 13
(vi) Regional development plans.
The plans of regional development are in the process of development; in particular,  the plan
for the development of the Khorezm Region of Uzbekistan was approved in August 1997.
(b) Monetary and fiscal policy.
(i) Monetary and credit policy.
Financial and monetary policies of Uzbekistan are aimed at maintaining macro-economic and
social stability. Therefore, the Republic of Uzbekistan is currently pursuing a restrictive monetary
policy, with its main factor being the lowering of inflation and  the stabilisation of the exchange rate
of a new domestic currency, the Sum (introduced on 1 July 1994).  This monetary policy also serves a
second purpose of stabilisation of the financial sy stem and of control over both real and nominal
interest rates.
As far the Uzbek economy undergoes the period of transitions, two exchange rates are applied
- market and over-the-counter (commercial) (a description of the system is presented at the end of thisSection). Alongside this,  a highly pro-active and tight monetary, credit and foreign exchange policy
is pursued.
The banking system of Uzbekistan consists of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU), its 14
main territorial branches, 32 commercial banks, two of which were founded only by the Government
(the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activities of the Republic of Uzbekistan (NBU) and thePeople’s Bank), four banks with the participation of foreign capital and six private banks. The
Government has its stake in joint-stock banks. The functions of  financial bodies have been assigned
to several institutions.  CBU enjoys a great degree of independence by virtue of the Central Bank Law
passed in mid-1995. It has exclusive powers to issue money and to regulate the use of foreign
currency in the territory of Uzbekistan.  CBU issues money, provides service on deposits and transfersfor the Government, and also - extends loans to the Government.
The reserves of freely convertible currency are administered by the CBU.  In early 1995,
CBU began to buy gold from gold mining companies, paying for it at market prices, and by mid-1995
it was purchasing practically all of the gold produced in Uzbekistan.  In December of 1995, the
Ministry of Finance sold the remaining stock of its gold and short-term foreign currency deposits tothe CBU.  In 1996, the Ministry of Finance also en trusted to CBU the management of its foreign
currency deposits with foreign banks. The share of  the Uzbek international reserves held in CBU has
risen from about one-third at the end of 1994 to almost three-thirds by the end of 1995.
During the first two years of independence, financial policies were designed to cushion the
shrinking of production and of the domestic demand by subsidising consumption and production. Asmacro-economic imbalances widened in 1993, inflation rates were growing  and a short-term debt
began to accumulate rapidly. Financial policies were tightened following the introduction of the new
domestic currency, the Sum, on 1 July 1994.  CBU several times raised its loan interest rates and
stopped extending loans to loss-making enterprises.   The Government terminated its interest-free
financing of  state-owned enterprises and cut its other expenditures. As a result, the consolidated
budget deficit in relation to GDP diminished by more than 10 percentage points in 1993 and went
down to 4.1 per cent in 1994.
The efforts of stabilisation and structural reforms were intensified in 1995. Financial policies
were tightened further as CBU raised its refinancing rate to a level that was positive in real terms, it
sharply curtailed financing of the banks and eliminated an excessive liquidity in the financial system,
having issued central bank deposit certificates and by buying credits at inter-bank auctions.  TheWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 14
consolidated budget deficit decreased to 2.7 percent of GDP, that was, mainly, the impact of  new
measures.
In an attempt to accumulate private savings, the People’s Bank introduced new categories of
deposits with positive real interest rates, and commercial banks became more active in attractingdeposits of households.  The real GDP in 1995 decreased by slightly more than one percent, while the
inflation for 12 months, measured by the consumer  price index (CPI), was brought sharply down to
117 percent,  from 1,281 percent in 1994.  The Government continued to pursue the policy of a
managed floating exchange rate in 1995, when the fall of the exchange rate of Sum to US dollar by 42
per cent in nominal terms meant in real terms its appreciation by almost 50 per cent during a year.This appreciation in real terms continued in 1996. The official exchange rate of Sum to US dollar fell
down by 46.3 per cent, from 36.16 Sums/US$1in January to 52.91 Sums/US$1 in December 1996.
However, the inflation in 1996 was estimated at approximately 64 per cent. It meant that in 1996  the
price of Sum to US dollar in real terms went down by another 17.7 per cent.
Since independence, Governmental policies for development are designed for a transition to a
more industrialised and diversified structure of the economy, for increasing its capacity for producinga wide range of goods and products, including finished and semi-finished goods, to be supplied to
both domestic and export markets.
In an attempt to enhance the country’s economic independence, the Government follows the
policies of diversification of production and of the development of enterprises that would manufacture
and process the most vital products and consumer goods for the Republic. As a result, since 1995
Uzbekistan is a net exporter of oil and the importation of energy, amounting during 1992-1994 on
average 20  per cent of all imports, decreased significantly. The current account deficit  of the balance
of payments in respect of GDP  contracted from almost 12 percent in 1992 to less than 1 percent in1995.  At the same time, at the end of 1995, the gross gold and foreign exchange reserves increased to
the equivalent of more than six months of imports.
In the first three quarters of 1996, the external current account deficit widened to 8.1 percent
of GDP because of a plunge of international prices of cotton, while the import of grain, consumer
goods and capital goods required for the investment continued at higher world prices. It was also
linked with the liberalisation of foreign exchange and trading systems.  In order to maintain the
foreign exchange reserves, to avoid difficulties with the balance of payments and to protect people,
the Government began in October 1996 to limit convertibility; it significantly decreased the numberof enterprises entitled to convert Sums into hard currency in CBU and established monthly quotas for
all companies adequate for their real needs. This policy was aimed at restricting an importation of low
quality consumer goods or of the goods available from the domestic suppliers and claming later to
convert proceeds from the sale of such goods.  These measures were deemed as temporary and are to
be gradually removed as the macro-economic situation of the country stabilises. Governmental policyis to have eventually  a full convertibility of the domestic currency.
Reforming the financial institutions of the Republic of Uzbekistan plays an important role in
the overall process of economic transformations.
The country’s financial policy presumes that such institutions will be instrumental in attaining
and maintaining macro-economic and social stability and also for creating favourable conditions for
economic growth and for development and diversification of the economy.  The current financial
policy of the country is to gradually balance the budget by controlling public spending and raising tax
revenues  by collecting taxes more efficiently and on a wide taxation base of the private sector.
The control of public spending involves the elimination of subsidies for unprofitable
enterprises in the public sector and the sale of such enterprises or their assets.  Privatisation and aWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 15
post-privatisation support to state-owned enterprises furthers the Governmental financial policy of
extending  the private sector tax base and eliminating the need to subsidise unprofitable state
enterprises.
The financial policy has been designed for a number of adjustment measures, involving also
a stabilisation of  the budget deficit on the level of  3 percent of GDP in 1997 (down from  4.1 percent
in 1994).
(ii) Taxes.
On the revenue side, the Government intends to implement more effective tax collection
measures, while maintaining taxes on a level not damaging to economic growth. The State TaxCommittee (STC) takes part in drafting tax laws and enforcing governmental regulations.  Important
changes in tax policy and law were introduced at the end of April 1997 when Oliy Majlis passed a
new and revised Tax Code which had consolidated, rearranged and rationalised the tax law of the
Republic of Uzbekistan and is a basic tax law of the country.
The new Tax Code, passed by Oliy Majlis in late April 1997, was  drafted with the assistance
of international experts.  It instituted taxes of eight   basic types: (1)  income tax on both physical and
legal persons; (2) value-added tax;  (3) excise tax; (4) property tax; (5) land tax; (6) tax on the use of
subsoil; (7) environmental tax; and (8) tax for the use of water resources.
In accordance with the Article 28 of the Tax Code, the taxable income (profit) of legal entities
in Uzbekistan is subject to taxation at a maximum rate of 35 per cent. This Article also authorised the
Cabinet of Ministers to fix lower tax rates on income (profit) for some legal entities, in particular, for
those who make agricultural products (as the main line of activity), and for enterprises with the
foreign investment.
It should be noted, however, that agricultural en terprises are subject to income (profit) tax at
differentiated rates (5 to 35  per cent) imposed by the Cabinet of Ministers, depending on companyprofitability.
Pursuant to the Article 35, "the foreign legal entities shall be subject to taxation in the
territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan …. on account of the requirements of international agreements
of the Republic of Uzbekistan", pursuant to the provisions of the Tax Code, i.e. at the rate of 35 per
cent. Apart of the income (profit) tax, a permanent office of a legal person who is not a resident is
subject to pay tax on the income (profit) of such permanent institution transferred abroad, at the rate
of 10  per cent.
Income tax is levied on the taxable income (profit) of enterprises, calculated as the difference
between the total (aggregate) income and deductions, established in accordance with the Tax Code.
Certain types of enterprises are exempt from the payment of income tax, e.g. enterprises
producing prosthetic/orthopaedic items, legal entities engaged in transportation of
passengers(excluding taxis), income received from construction and maintenance of roads in common
use, manufacturing enterprises with a 50  per cent share of foreign capital in the statutory fund - that
income (profit) which is reinvested for the development and expansion of production, etc.
Other types of enterprises are exempt from income (profit) tax for a some period, for instance,
farms and private enterprises that get their income from processing and production of agriculturalproducts, consumer goods, and construction materials - for two years from the date of their
registration; newly created manufacturing enterprises with a foreign participation producing exportproducts and goods for meeting the requirements of the domestic market - for two years from theWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 16
beginning of production, if the share of the foreign investment in the statutory capital  is 50 per cent
and more or for five years from the beginning of production, if more than 25 per cent of output are
goods for children);  manufacturing enterprises with the foreign investment that invest in the projects
of the Republican Investment Programme - for seven years since the date of registration.
The Tax Code established a progressive scale of individual income (profit) tax, having a rate
growing in relation to the size of income:
Amount of taxable income Amount of tax
up to three minimum wages a month 15 per cent of income
from three (+ 1 Sum) to five minimum
wages a monththe tax on three minimum wages plus 25 per cent on
the amount exceeding three minimum wages
from five (+ 1 Sum) to ten minimum wages
a monththe tax on  five minimum salaries plus 35 per cent on
the amount exceeding five minimum wages
from ten (+ 1 Sum) to fifteen minimumwages a monththe tax on ten minimum salaries plus 40 per cent on
the amount exceeding ten minimum wages
above fifteen minimum wages a month the tax on fifteen minimum salaries plus 45 per cent
on the amount exceeding fifteen minimum wages
The Tax Code determines the types of income of natural persons that are not subject to
taxation; for instance, the personal income from  the sale of livestock and poultry raised in individual
households, or from the sale of the products of bee-keeping and plant cultivation ( in a natural and
processed form); the amounts obtained from the sale of property of physical persons belonging tothem as a privately owned property, except proceeds from the sale of property  received in course of
business activities; wages and other personal income used for buying property of state enterprises;
stock of privatised enterprises, dividends on stock reinvested in the shares of the joint stock company
paying dividends, etc.
In accordance with the Article 66 "the payers of VAT shall be legal entities …," and on
"…imported goods (work, services) … the legal and physical persons importing such goods."
Pursuant to  the Article 73 of the Tax Code, VAT is levied at a 20 per cent flat rate. It should
be mentioned that "on some socially important food stuffs, VAT shall be paid at the rate of 10 per
cent. The list of such products shall be established by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of
Uzbekistan."
Although the Republic of Uzbekistan pursues in general a policy of maintaining uniform tax
rates on all forms of economic activities, sometimes the tax law and governmental resolutions areused in order to encourage a further development of the domestic social policy.
Zero rates of VAT (Article 72 ) are established for:
− "…the export of goods (work, services), exce pt the cases when goods (work, services)
are sold to countries applying a regime of taxation of the goods (work, services)exported to the Republic of Uzbekistan;
3
− mineral fertiliser, fuel and lubricants supplied to agricultural enterprises for their
agricultural production needs ".
                                                     
3 There is a  CIS Agreement providing for the  collection of VAT on  exports intended for other CIS countries.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 17
VAT exemptions (Article 71) for some goods and services are established in order to ensure a
wider accessibility of such goods to people or to im plement social policies, for instance,  for some of
the deals with some goods or services, such as the sale or lease of residential property, the sale of
agricultural products of own production, a wide range of financial services (such as life insurance  or
pension service), municipal transportation service, mail service,  privatisation deals or imports related
to the humanitarian aid.
The Tax Code also provides for an introduction of excise taxes on certain groups of goods,
whether produced in the country or imported. According to the Article 80 of the Tax Code, "the
export supplies of goods subject to the excise export shall not be levied with the excise tax, except
when the goods (work, service) are sold to the countries applying a regime of taxation of the goods
(work, services) exported to the Republic of Uzbekistan."
In relation to the domestically produced goods that are subject to excise duty, the rate is
assessed on the basis of the value of such goods (on account of the amount of  excise), excluding thevalue added tax or a physical volume of goods. For imported products, the rate of excise duty is
assessed on the basis of the value of such goods, determined according to the customs valuation
procedures. The powers of establishing the list of  goods subject to the excise and applicable rates
have been delegated to the Cabinet of Ministers.
The Tax Code also introduced the property tax, which is different from the land tax, and is
assessed for some types of property of legal entities and physical persons. 1  January 1998 onwards,
the property tax for legal entities is  four percent of the book value of basic assets, including of
buildings and intangible assets, shown on the entity’s balance sheet.  Certain property is exempt from
the payment of property tax, for instance, the property used for the production, storage and selection
of agricultural products. The property of a number of legal persons is not subject to this tax, orinstance, the property manufacturing enterprises with a share of foreign capital in the statutory fund
not less than US$500,000.
The Tax Code provides for the payment of land tax.  Under the Tax Code, the payer of this
tax is a person or a legal entity who owns land or has a right to its permanent use. The rates of land
tax are determined by the Cabinet of Ministers.  Some types of land plots and some taxpayers areexempt from the payment of land tax, for instance, the land used by institutions of culture, education,
health care and welfare.
The tax on the use of subsoil is also provided for.  It is paid by the legal persons engaged in
mineral mining and also by those who construct or operate underground structures  not related to the
extraction mineral resources. The rates of the tax on the use of subsoil are established by the Cabinetof Ministers, depending on the volumes of mining , tectonegic formations (waste of mining and
processing of raw minerals), volume of underground structures not related to mineral mining or the
area of the plot of subsoil provided for the collections of geological materials.
An ecological tax is payable by legal entities engaged in the production of goods, performing
construction work or services. The object of taxation is the production prime cost (cost of turnover) of
goods (work, services).The ecological tax is paid at the rate of one percent.
Also, a tax on the use of water resources by legal entities was introduced, which is based on
the volume of water used for production or technological purposes.  The rates are established by the
Cabinet of Ministers, based on the type of used water resources and on the type of activities of the
user.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 18
(iii) Banking.
The banking system of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as mentioned earlier, consists of the
Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU), its 14 main territorial (regional) branches, and 32 commercial
banks,  two of which are established entirely by the Government (the National Bank for Foreign
Economic Activities (NBU) and the People’s Bank), four banks with the participation of a foreign
capital and 6 private banks. The State has some stock in other banks, which are joint-stock banks.
Until mid-1996, for the establishment of commercial banks, in respect of the statutory capital
it was necessary to comply with the requirements of  CBU, Protocol No. 5, which was approved by the
Resolution of the CBU Board of 28 March 1993 and provided that commercial banks should have the
statutory capital of US$2,000,000.
On 25 April 1996, Oliy Majlis passed a new Law, "On Banks and Banking," which is
currently the fundamental banking regulatory act. The Law provided CBU with an authority to
determine the minimum size of the statutory capital of commercial banks, at its own discretion and ona case-by-case basis.
According to the "Regulations on the Procedure of Bank Registration and Licensing"
approved by CBU (Letter No. 22 of the CBU of 25  January 1997), the requirement of the minimum
size of statutory capital of the banks with a foreign participation was lifted to  US$5,000,000.
(c) Foreign exchange and payments system; relations with the IMF, application of foreign
exchange controls if any
(i) Foreign exchange control foreign exchange rates.
  The official foreign exchange markets of Uzbekistan consist of the Republican Foreign
Currency Exchange (RFCE) and an over-the-counter, or commercial, market (including the exchange
offices).
Since the introduction of the domestic currency, Sum, on July 1, 1994, the Republic of
Uzbekistan has been keeping to a system of a managed and floating exchange rate.  The Government
initially conducted weekly inter-bank foreign exchan ge auctions at RFCE so that to determine the
official rate of Sum. Both licensed commercial banks and CBU participated in the auctions.
Initially, the official exchange rate determined at auctions was 7 Sums per US dollar as of
1 July 1994.  The official exchange rates of  other 30 currencies and SDRs are set through US$ cross
rates and are applied to official deals, including the foreign exchange sold by exporters to CBU for
sale at auctions.
From mid-April 1996 through June 1996, the difference between the official and commercial
rates went down to almost 5  per cent which resulted in a secondary introduction by banks of a smalldifference between the rate of purchase and sale proposed by exchange offices.
Currently, there is only one exchange rate, established weekly by CBU.  The licensed banks
apply a margin (a commission fee) 10-12 per cent higher than the official rate. The purchase and sale
of foreign exchange by physical persons from exchange offices is on account of this margin (a
commission fee).
As of 1 August 1998, the official exchange rate was about 101.02 Sums per US dollar.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 19
(ii) Convertibility and payments
The Republic of Uzbekistan currently has a system of laws and regulations  specifying the
terms on which firms and individuals may get an access to foreign exchange at currency auctions and
exchange offices of commercial banks.
Physical persons resident in Uzbekistan may purchase foreign currency  at the marked-up
rate from an exchange office of a commercial bank for personal needs, including for impendingforeign travel. Residents may use credit cards.
Non-residents may convert sums into foreign currency at an exchange office at the marked-up
rate if the individual presents documentation demonstrating that the sums were originally purchased
from an authorised exchange office. Any individual desiring to purchase foreign exchange at an
exchange office is required to present appropriate documentation and identification.  Individuals may
import any amount of foreign currency into the Republic without limitation; however, amounts
imported by an individual in excess of US$10,000 are subject to a 1 per cent duty.  In importingforeign currency, individuals must make a cust oms declaration of the amount imported. Resident
individuals may export the amount of foreign currency not exceeds US$1,500, non-resident
individuals may export the amount of foreign currency that was previously imported.
Both residents and non-residents, whether individuals or legal entities, can open sum and
foreign currency accounts at commercial banks in Uzbekistan.  Residents may open foreign currencyaccounts abroad only with special permission of th e CBU. Legal entities with foreign currency export
earnings are required to convert 30 per cent of those earnings at the official rate at the CBU.
The conversion of sum import earnings into foreign currency is subject to a system of
regulations intended to guarantee the fairness of the underlying import transaction and the optimal
character of the import contract’s terms and conditions.  This process is intended to ensure thatimporters of low quality, unnecessary, over-priced or illegally imported products cannot gain access
to foreign exchange through the auction, either directly or through a commercial bank or other entity,
for the purpose of converting the sum proceeds from the sale of these goods into foreign currency.
The process is also intended to ensure that foreign exchange is readily available to finance the import
transactions of licensed importers, whose transactions and intended resale prices (10 per centmaximum mark-up for wholesalers and 20 per cent for retailers) have been  reviewed and confirmed
as fair by the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations.
The process is also intended to encourage the importation of modern productive equipment
and technology for the purpose of creating productive facilities in  priority areas of the economy by
making conversion available to finance import contracts involving goods of productive ortechnological significance.
The priority areas of the economy are: (i) aircraft production and automobile industry; (ii)
mining industry; (iii) chemical industry; (iv) agriculture; (v) production of packaging materials; (vi)
production of construction materials; (vii) light industry; (viii) telecommunications; (ix) transport.
The major objective of the monetary and fiscal policy of the CBU is to control the growth of
cash in circulation. The CBU intends to maintain the liquidity of the banking system to the extent
sufficient to make payments timely and also recommend to legal entities that they make payments toeach other (with the exception of retail sales of consumer goods and services, including travel, and the
payment of wages) through inter-bank transfer.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 20
(iii) Relations with International Monetary Fund
The  Republic of Uzbekistan joined the IMF on 21 September 1992.  The regional IMF office
was later established in Tashkent in  September of 1993. The  IMF mission  provides technical
assistance and advice to the  Government  and the CBU.  Its efforts are directed at improving the
Government’s abilities in the areas of monetary and currency policy, statistics collection and analysis,
banking supervision, and identification of weak areas of  the economy.  The quota of Uzbekistan isspecified in the amount of 199,500,000 SDR’s, which has been in effect since 16 April 1993.
To increase the effectiveness of co-operation with the World Bank, the IMF and other
international financial institutions, and to co-ord inate the work of ministries and institutions with
missions of international financial organisations,  a permanently operating Inter-Institutional
Committee on the Work with International Financial Institutions was established in 1994.
The Government’s economic programme for 1995 was supported by a first drawing under the
IMF’s Systemic Transformation Facility (STF) and an import rehabilitation loan from the WorldBank.
For the purposes of further movement towards fulfilment of this programme, and to fight
inflation and establish conditions for revival of economic growth, the programme of macro-economic
stabilisation and reform for the period 1 October 1995 to 31 December 1996 was adopted. The
Government’s economic programme for 1996 was also supported by a second drawing under the STFand a stand-by arrangement with the IMF.  The IMF has praised the Government’s significant steps
towards stabilisation.
In accordance  with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 118 dated  18 March 1998,
for further developing and deepening of co-operation with IMF the joint Working Group was
established. The main objective of this Group is to elaborate a complex approach in implementationof measures for further liberalisation of currency and foreign trade systems. This Group includes
representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers, Ministry for  Foreign Economic Relations, Ministry for
Macroeconomy and Statistics, Central Bank, State Property Committee, National Bank for Foreign
Economic Activity and Resident Representative of IMF in Tashkent.
(d) Foreign and domestic investment policies.
In order to implement its policy of industrialisation and modernisation, the Government of the
Republic of Uzbekistan has a highly pro-active pol icy of encouraging foreign direct investment,
especially in certain priority sectors of the economy.
This policy to attract foreign investment resulted in amendments in 1992-94 to the Enterprise
Tax law of 15 February 1991, creating tax benefits and privileges for legal entities with foreigninvestments.  In particular, according to the abov e law, joint ventures, their subsidiaries and branch
establishments  30 per cent or more owned by foreig ners and specialising in the following  industries:
consumer goods production, agricultural machinery,  agricultural production and food processing,
medical equipment, light industry and recycling or bu ilding materials obtain up to a  two year income
tax holiday commencing at the moment of registration. Also, a joint venture with foreign participation
that invests in a project, included in the State Investment Programme of the Republic of Uzbekistan
obtains a five year income tax holiday.
The new Tax Code extends additional benefits to legal entities with more than 50 per cent
foreign ownership and specialising in the production of consumer goods. On 5 May 1994, the Oliy
Majlis enacted the law "On Foreign Investment and Guarantees for the Activity of Foreign Investors,"
(as amended on  23 September 1994 and 6 May 1995, the "FIL"), which reiterates and, in some cases,WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 21
extends the guarantees for the protection of foreign investment provided by earlier foreign investment
laws.
In particular, these guarantees include: (i)  protection against expropriation except in
extraordinary circumstances (natural disasters, emergencies, epidemics and epizootics), provision for
compensation in such an event, (ii)  the right to repatriate profits, (iii)  a ten year exemption from
future adverse legislative changes, subject to ce rtain exceptions for changes relating to matters of
national defence, national security, public order and environmental protection; (iv)  exemptions from
export/import licensing and export/import duties  for exports of a foreign owned entity’s  production
and for imports for its production needs; (v)  a tax exemption for property imported for a foreign-
owned entity’s own production needs and  the personal needs of  its foreign employees; and (vi)  the
right to resolve disputes by foreign arbitration.
In November 1996, a Presidential Decree "On Additional Incentives and Privileges for
Enterprises with Foreign Investment" (the "MEFI Decree") established a special category ofenterprises called "Manufacturing Enterprises wi th Foreign Investment" (MEFI) that will receive
preferential treatment.
MEFI are defined by the Presidential Decree dated 27 March 1998 as wholly or partially
foreign-owned legal entities, their branch companies and joint-ventures (i) having a charter fund of at
least  US$150,000; (ii) having at least one foreign owner; (iii) in which the share of foreigninvestment accounts for at least 30 percent of  the charter capital; and (iv) that derive more than sixty
percent of their total income from their own pr oduction or the servicing of manufactured products.
The above-mentioned Decree also reduces the benefits available to enterprises not following
within the definition of MEFI; however, enterprises with foreign investment  not included in this
definition and created prior adoption of the Decree will continue to receive the tax benefits grantedunder previous decrees, until those benefits expire.
Effective 1 January 1997, (i) MEFI  investing in the State Investment Programme will be
exempt from income tax for seven years, (ii) MEFI in which the foreign investment share of charter
capital exceeds 50 per cent will be subject to a reduced corporate income tax rate of 20 percent (where
the charter capital of the enterprise is be tween US$300,000 and US$1,000,000) and 16 percent (where
the charter capital is US$1,000,000 or more), (iii) income of an MEFI that is re-invested into
production activity is tax exempt, and (iv) MEFI engaged in export-oriented and import-substituting
production are exempt from the corporate income tax:
− for two years from the commencement of production if the foreign investment share of
charter capital exceeds 50 per cent.
− for five years from the commencement of production if more than 25  per cent of all
products produced are goods for children. In the following years the income tax will be
collected at a rate equal to one half the normally applicable rate.
With the view of improving the coordination works on the formation of the investment
programs, aimed at the provision of deep stru ctural transformations of economy and creation of
favorable environment for attracting foreign investments, a new Department of the Investment
Programs has been established under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan in
conformity with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated
27 December 1997.
In the conformity with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On the
actions aimed at the improving of the implementation mechanism of projects based on the foreignWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 22
investments" adopted on the ninth of February, 1998 the Department of the investment programs
under the Cabinet of Ministers shall be the only authorized body responsible for the realization of the
State investment policy monitoring the process of the implementation of the projects based on the
foreign investments. It means (i) reveal and investigate those factors which are preventing the
advancement of the investment projects at every stage of their implementation and take the operative
actions on their elimination; (ii) draw out proposals on the improvement of the legislative basis for theinvestment activity; (iii) elimination of any bureaucratic barriers through the limitation of
consideration terms of different issues related towards the implementation of the investment projects.
In conformity with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated
19 January 1998 " On the additional measures on the inspiration of the investment project
implementation" and with the view of undertaking the structural transformations of the economy due
to the implementation of the prioritized investment  projects the technological equipment imported for
the prioritized spheres included into the investme nt program for the year 1998; for the implementation
of the investment project finance at the expense of foreign credits under the guarantee of the
Government; for newly constructed and reconstructed enterprises specializing in the production of thecommodity goods; foreign investments  as their cont ribution to the authorized capital of the enterprise
with foreign investments shall be exempted from the VAT.
There are special articles in all legislative acts  determining the priority of the international
laws over the national legislation, which provides the sound international relationship in the sphere of
the legal practice.
(e) Competition policy.
It is the policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan to create the conditions necessary for a fully
functional market economy based on free, fair and open competition.
Uzbekistan adopted its first antimonopoly law in 1992, which was strengthened in 1994. In
February of 1995, the Government issued a resolution establishing a concrete plan of action for thedemonopolization of key enterprises in agriculture and wholesale trade and transport to eliminate
impediments to the entry of private companies into these markets.
Currently, the law "On Competition and Restriction of Monopolistic Activities in the Market
for Goods" of 27 December 1996 (the "Antimonopoly Law") governs competition in the market forgoods of the Republic of Uzbekistan, where the major participants are local legal entities  and natural
persons, as well as foreign entities, state administrative and local administrative authorities.
The law, which regulates the activity of monopolies and prohibits the use of unfair methods
of competition, is now administered by the St ate Antimonopoly Organisation (SAMO), the creation of
which is required by the Antimonopoly Law. The SAMO replaced the State Committee for
demonopolization and the Development of Competition (SCDDC), which had been established by a
Presidential Decree of 15 May 1996.
The SAMO is  independent from other administrative authorities, and its decisions are subject
to judicial appeal.
The SAMO, like its predecessor the SCDDC, is under the  Ministry of Finance and is also
responsible for the administration and enforcement of legislation on consumer protection, primarily
the law "On the Protection of Consumer Rights" of 26 April  1996.
Under the antimonopoly law that was in effect until the end of 1996, producers of products
with a market share of 35 per cent or greater were classified as monopolies, except for the foodWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 23
industry where producers with a market share of 20 per cent or greater were regarded as monopolies.
The application of these thresholds in the current transitional economy of Uzbekistan resulted in the
classification of over 1,000 entities as monopol ies and over 3,000 products as monopoly products.
Consequently, under the old antimonopoly law, price increases for these products became subject to
approval by the SCDDC.
Under the current law, the SAMO is respons ible for developing and maintaining the
competitive environment by identifying enterprise s classifiable as "dominant enterprises," i.e.
enterprises having a dominant share of the market for a given product.
Dominant enterprises having a 65 per cent or greater share of the relevant market for a given
product are automatically classified as monopolies and come under the regulatory power of the
SAMO.
Dominant enterprises having a 35 per cent or more but less than a 65 per cent share of the
relevant market for a given product may be classified as monopolies if an investigation by the SAMOreveals the presence of factors justifying such classification.
In conducting this investigation the SAMO is requi red to consider  the stability of the entity’s
market share, the relative size of the shares belonging to competitors, the degree to which the market
is open to potential new competitors, and "other criteria characterising the concerned market."  As a
result of these new definitions, the SAMO is in the process of substantially reducing the list ofmonopoly entities and products.
The new law allows the SAMO to take a number of actions to limit the ability of a dominant
enterprise to exploit its position, including the right to introduce price and profitability controls, and
the right to require an enterprise to surrender profits made in violation of the law.   The SAMO is also
responsible for reviewing and approving mergers that may result in the creation of a dominant
enterprise.
The Antimonopoly Law specifically indicates that the control of "natural" monopolies in
certain specified sectors of the economy may be provided for in other legislation.
The specified sectors are: (i) extraction and production of oil, gas condensate, natural gas and
coal; (ii) transportation of oil, petroleum products, and gas through trunk pipelines; (iii) generationand conveyance of electric power and thermal energy;  (iv) railway transportation; (v) port and air
terminal services; (vi) electronic and postal communication services provided by public providers;
and (vii) water supply and sewage services provided by public providers.
Therefore, on 24 April 1997, the Oliy Majlis passed a new law specifically governing the
operation of natural monopolies in these specific sectors, the law "On Natural Monopolies."
The new law defines a "natural monopoly" as an entity that supplies a product or service that,
for  technological reasons, is more efficiently delivered by one provider and for which demand is
significantly price-inelastic due to the lack of available substitutes.
According to the law "On Natural Monopolies," the Cabinet of Ministers and the SAMO are
responsible for regulating  the operations of natural monopolies.
The following methods may be applied for the regulation of natural monopolies:
− the regulation of prices by the establishment of tariffs or maximum prices;WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 24
− the identification of consumers who must be provided with services and/or the
determination of the minimum level of services that must be provided to such
consumers in case it is impossible to immediately satisfy the entire demand for the
goods, works and services provided by natural monopolies; and
− the licensing of the activities of natural monopolies.
As a result of the soviet period, some 78 large industrial enterprises were inherited and still
operate on the Uzbek market.  The break-up and restructuring of these entities is not possible within a
short period of time. They carry out their ac tivity under the supervision of the SAMO. These
enterprises are concentrated in the chemical, machine building and mining industries.
3. Foreign trade in goods and services:  volume and value of trade, exports and imports,
foreign trade balance, structure of trade, trade by geographic areas and dynamics of trade,
accompanying statistical data and information on publications (annex 1 refers).
Over the six years of independence, the foreign trade patterns of the Uzbek economy have
changed radically. At present, all enterprises have the right to sell their own production on the world
market, although a portion of the production of some goods remain subject to the state order system.
Domestic prices of goods subject to state order are determined on the base of world market prices.
The foreign trade of Uzbekistan has been considerably liberalized  for the years of
independence . Trade and economic relations have been established with more than 120 countries not
limited only by the cooperation with certain regions or groups of countries. The geography of foreign
trade has been sufficiently changed  and the turnover of the cooperation with the countries with highlydeveloped economy has increased by 1.7 , that is 72  per cent of the total turnover.
Starting with the year 1992 the foreign trade turnover has increased by five  and in 1997 it
was about US$9 billion. The production with a high added cost  (aircraft building, engineering,
automobile industry, light, chemical and petrochemical industry, labour saving electronics, food
products, services etc.) is occupying still increasing part in the structure of export productionalongside with the traditional goods (cotton fibre, energy, ferrous and non ferrous metal).
The total volume of foreign investments of more than US$8 billion allowed to provide the
production of more than 200 new export products.
The balance of foreign trade turnover of more than US$200 million was positive in the first
half of 1998.
The tendency of the increase of export production with a high added cost became vivid. Thus,
the volume  of the mechanical equipment export has increased by 4.5, electrical equipment – by 2.6,
automobile and other transport means- by 1.8. The total increase against major export goods is more
than US$122 million.
The realization of the policy of import rationalization allowed to decrease its volume by more
than US$700 million in the first half of 1998 to compare with the same period of 1997. More than
70 per cent of the  imported goods is the manufacturing production including machines and equipment
not produced by the republic and imported  with th e sake of the structural economic transformation.
Statistics on  main imports and exports as well as a break-down of foreign trade are given in
Tables 1-15 through 1-28 of Annex 1.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 25
4. Domestic trade in services, including the value and composition of foreign direct
investments.
The services sector accounted for about 34.6 per cent of GDP in 1995, and  38.3 per cent in
1996. In 1996, the share of total employment accounted for by the sector was 34 per cent.
The main domestic service industries are:
− trade and public catering
− education
− transport
− credit and insurance services
− health care and social protection
Most enterprises with foreign investments in the sphere of services have been established in
trade and public catering, tourism, repair of equipment, transportation, and communications, as well
as in the provision of consulting, financial, educational and medical services.
5. Information on financial movements related to nationals working abroad, remittances,
etc.
There are no restrictions on the import of currency by nationals working abroad.
6. Information on growth in trade in goods and services over recent years and forecast for
years to come.
Statistical data on foreign trade in goods over the last four years is provided in Tables 1-15
through 1-28 of Annex 1.
Due to the difficulties in converting the FSU currency (the rouble) into the former temporary
Uzbek  currency (the sum-coupon) and then into the current Uzbek  national currency (the sum), it is
rather complicated to present any specific informa tion on foreign trade for the past period. Forecasts
on the anticipated future levels of and trends in foreign trade in goods and services are being
developed.
III. FRAMEWORKS   FOR  FORMULATING AND  ENFORCING THE POLICIES
AFFECTING FOREIGN  TRADE  IN  GOODS AND TRADE  IN  SERVICES
1. Powers of  legislative,  executive  and judicial branches of the government
According to the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which affirms the country’s
commitment to the ideals of democracy  and  social  justice,  the system of the state power  is based
on the division into  legislative,  executive and judicial branches.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 26
(a) Powers of the Executive Authority
(i) The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The President is the Head of the State and of the executive power of the Republic of
Uzbekistan.
The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan is simultaneously the Chairman of the Cabinet of
Ministers.
The President is elected  for a  term of  five years, based on a universal, equal and direct
secret ballot. Pursuant to the Article 90 of the Constitution, only a citizen of the Republic ofUzbekistan upon reaching 35 years of age may be elected the president. According to the
Constitution, the same person may not be elected a president for more than two consecutive terms.
The Constitution affords extensive authority to the President who represents the Republic of
Uzbekistan both domestically and in its international relations.
Proceeding from the Constitution and from the la ws of the Republic of Uzbekistan and for the
purpose of their enforcement, the President issues decrees, resolutions and orders, that have a bindingforce all over the territory of the Republic.
The President signs the laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan. He is entitled to return a law to
Oliy Majlis (the Parliament) for new discussion and voting, having stated his objections. If Oliy
Majlis confirms its prior decision by a two-third majority vote, then the President will have to sign a
law. The President is entitled to suspend or annul the acts of state administration and khokims.
The President recruits the apparatus of the executive power and guides its activities, provides
for the interaction between the highest bodies of power and administration of the Republic, establishes
and eliminates the ministries, state committees and other bodies of the state administration of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, and submits subsequently relevant decrees for approval by Oliy Majlis.
The President appoints and dismisses the Prime Minister, First Deputy Prime Minister, deputy
prime ministers, members of the Cabinet of Mini sters, the Procurator-General and his deputies,
subject to a subsequent approval by Oliy Majlis.
The President also has the power to nominate the Chairman and members of the
Constitutional, Supreme and Supreme Commercial C ourts, as well as the Chairman of the CBU Board
and the Chairman of the State Committee of Nature Protection, subject to a subsequent approval by
Oliy Majlis.
The President may, on his sole discretion, appoint judges of regional, district, municipal and
economic courts.  He may appoint and release from duties khokims of oblasts and of Tashkent City,subject to their subsequent approval by relevant councils of people’s deputies.  He is also entitled to
release from duties khokims of rayons and cities, if they violated the Constitution or laws or
committed actions that impair the honour and dignity of khokims.
The Constitution  also gives the President the power to dissolve the Oliy Majlis.
In the area of international relations, the President conducts negotiations and signs treaties
and agreements of the Republic of Uzbekistan. He ensures compliance with the treaties andagreements signed and with the obligations assumed by the Republic; he receives credentials of theWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 27
diplomatic or other representatives accredited under him; appoints and releases from duties the
diplomatic or other representatives of the Republic of Uzbekistan in other states.
(ii) The Cabinet  of  Ministers.
The Cabinet of Ministers  is the  main  governmental institution and  the main executive body.
It is formed by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and is approved by Oliy Majlis.
The Cabinet of Ministers consists of the Prime Minister and deputy prime ministers, the heads
of ministries, state committees and bodies of economic management. The Head of the Republic ofKarakalpakstan by virtue of his position is also a member of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The Cabinet of Ministers ensures the leadership over an effective functioning of the economy,
social and spiritual sectors, and enforcement of laws or other resolutions of Oliy Majlis and of the
decrees, orders and  decisions  of  the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The Cabinet of Ministers draws up the state budget and presents it for consideration by Oliy
Majlis, it also has the responsibility for a budget execution.
The  Cabinet of Ministers guides and co-ordinates the work and activities of the ministries,
state committees, state administrations, and economic management bodies.  It may also delegate some
power to the ministries, state committees, and other state administrative bodies to deal with the issues
falling within its competence. The Cabinet of Ministers is entitled to review or annul regulatory acts
of the ministries, state committees or other state  ad ministrative bodies, if such acts contradict to the
law.
The Cabinet of Ministers must resign its powers to a newly elected Oliy Majlis.
(b) Powers of the Legislature
The highest state representative body having a legislative power is Oliy Majlis (the
Parliament) of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Elections to the Parliament take place every five years, on the basis of a universal right to
vote, by territorial  constituencies on a  multi-party  basis.
The Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan consists of 250 deputies. A session of Oliy Majlis has a
quorum if not less than the two-thirds of all deputies take part in its work. Draft laws are passed by a
majority vote of the deputies present and voting. The publication of laws and other regulatory acts is a
compulsory condition for their enforcement.
The  Chairman of  Oliy Majlis and  his deputies are  elected  from the number of deputies, by
a  secret  ballot.  One of the deputy chairmen is a representative of the Republic of Karakalpakstan,
who is a deputy of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
From the number of its deputies, Oliy Majlis establishes committees  and  commissions for
drafting laws, reviewing and preparing matters to be considered by Oliy Majlis, for the control overthe enforcement of laws or other resolutions.
The Oliy Majlis has exclusive powers to pass th e Constitution and the laws of the Republic of
Uzbekistan and to introduce modifications and amendments to them; to define the guidelines of
domestic and external policies of the Republic and adopt the strategic state programmes; to regulate
the matters of administrative and territorial units with the help of legislative means; upon submissionWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 28
of the Cabinet of Ministers - to adopt the state budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan and to monitor its
execution; to institute taxes and other compulsory payments; to elect the Constitutional, Supreme and
Supreme Economic courts of the Republic of Uzbekistan; and to ratify and denunciate international
treaties and agreements.
(c) Powers of the Judiciary
In accordance with the Article 106 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the
judicial branch is independent from legislative and executive branches, political parties, or other
public associations.
The judiciary of the Republic of Uzbekistan consists of the Constitutional Court of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, Supreme Court of the Re public of Uzbekistan, Supreme Economic Court of
the Republic of Uzbekistan, Supreme Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan,  Economic Court of
the Republic of Karakalpakstan are elected for a term of five years. The judiciary also has regional,
Tashkent City, rayon, municipal and economic courts which are appointed for the same length oftime.
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan handles the cases involving the
constitutionality of the acts of legislative and executive branches and interprets norms of the
Constitution and laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the highest judicial body of
administrative jurisdiction; it is also entitled to supervise the work of the Supreme Court of the
Republic of Karakalpakstan, oblast, municipal and rayon courts.
The disputes arising in the economic sector or economic disputes between enterprises,
institutions, organisations of different forms of ownership or between entrepreneurs are settled by the
Supreme Economic Court or by economic courts falling under their appellate jurisdiction andaccording to their powers.
Courts are responsible for ensuring social justice, guarantees and protection of the rights of
citizens. Courts are guided in their activities by the Law "On Courts" passed by Oliy Majlis on 2
September 1993 (on account of modifications and amendments introduced by laws of 31 August 1995
and 27 December 1996).
Under the Article 112 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, judges are
independent  and obey only to the law. They cannot be the members of any political parties or
movements or occupy any other paid position.
A judge may be removed from his position prior to the end of his five-year term only on the
grounds specified in the Law "On Courts."
2. Governmental entities, responsible  for ma king and implementing policies affecting
trade
The policy of foreign trade is an inherent component of the overall external policies of the
Republic of Uzbekistan.
In practice, the foreign trade policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan is formulated and enforced
by the Cabinet of Ministers with the involvement of a number of ministries, agencies and state bodies
that are headed by the Cabinet of Ministers or are under its overall control.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 29
The leading role in devising and pursuing the foreign trade policy belongs to the Department
for Coordination of Foreign  Economic Activities, which is under a direct control and supervision of
the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Ministry for Foreign  Economic Relations.
The Cabinet of Ministers Department for Coordination of Foreign  Economic Activities
pursues its activities with the aim of developing and raising the efficiency of foreign economic
relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan, co-ordinating the work of the ministries, agencies, stateorgans and organisations of the Republic, strengthening co-operation with the international financial
and economic organisations, and creating a favourable investment environment in Uzbekistan. Along
with a number of other tasks, the Department makes proposals on the Republic’s foreign economic
policy and on the improvement of the regulatory  basis of the foreign economic activities.
The Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations  has the responsibility for the improvement of
the efficiency of foreign economic relations and export-import activities .  The main functions of the
Ministry are (i) to analyse international markets of goods and services, to draw out and signinternational treaties and agreements on trade, economic and technical co-operation; (ii) to develop
the strategy for the country’s foreign economic activitie s in a number of special areas, such as pricing,
import, export, advertisement of goods, scientific and technological  equipment and information, etc.
(iii) to regulate foreign economic activities of commercial entities, both state-owned and private, and
(iv) to decentralise import and export operations.
The functions of the Ministry, related to negotiations of trade agreements, underwent serious
changes at the end of 1994.  Prior to that, it had been responsible for centralised exports and imports
as well as for the control and monitoring the foreign trade policy through the issue of licenses.  With
the reduction of a number of licensed goods, its main activities shifted towards working out the trade
strategies and trade regime of Uzbekistan, drafting trade regulations, monitoring export and importprices, making preparatory or co-ordination work for the accession to the WTO and other
international organisations.
Export and import prices are controlled in such a way as to ensure that the goods were not
exported below or imported above world prices.
3. Division of authority between central and sub-central governments
(i) Regional Executive Administration
On a regional level the state authorities of the Republic of Uzbekistan function through 14
executive administrations, that are under a direct control of the Cabinet of Ministers: one  is in the
Republic of Karakalpakstan, one - in the Tashkent City, and one in each of the oblasts..
Every regional executive administration has a number of complexes that have a local
competence over some matters, for instance, agro-industrial complex, economic complex, etc.
Each of such complexes reports both to a regional executive administration, of which it is a
part, and to a relevant ministry.  As far as the regional executive administrations are under the control
of the Cabinet of Ministers and all the complexes of administrations report to relevant ministries, the
local governmental policy having influence on the trade in goods and services is determined, mainly,
by the central Government.
The heads of regional executive administrations in oblasts and in Tashkent City, known as
"khokims", are appointed and released from duties by the President, subject to a further approval of a
relevant oblast or municipal assembly - of the  Council of People’s Deputies (or "Jokargi Kenges" in
the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the highest elected body of the Republic of Karakalpakstan). TheWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 30
regional khokims and the khokim of the Tashkent city are the heads of both the executive and
legislative branches within their respective territories.
On the lowest level are the rayon (district) executive administrations. The Republic of
Karakalpakstan, all oblasts and the city of Tashkent are further divided into rayons. Khokims of all
oblasts and of the city of Tashkent appoint and release from duties  khokims of all rayons under their
jurisdiction, subject to a further approval of a relevant municipal or rayon council of people’sdeputies.
(ii) City and district Khokimiats
According to the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the representative authorities in
the rayons (districts) and cities (except the cities of rayon jurisdiction or rayons of one city) are the
Councils of People’s Deputies headed by khokims, who proceeding from the interests of the state and
its citizens address the matters falling under their jurisdiction.
Khokims of rayons and cities are the heads of both executive and legislative branches in their
relevant territories.
The term of office of  the Councils of People’s Deputies and of khokims is five years.
Elections to representative authorities are held on the basis of  universal (citizens of the
Republic of Uzbekistan upon reaching 18 years of age), equal and direct voting.
The following matters  fall under the responsibility of local authorities:
− ensuring compliance with the law, law-enforcement and safety of citizens;
− issues of the economic, social and cultural development of a territory;
− drawing up and execution of local budgets, imposition of local taxes, fees, and  the
formation of extra-budgetary funds;
− management of public amenities;
− protection of the environment;
− registration of civil status acts;
− adoption of regulatory acts; and other authorities that do not contradict the Constitution
or the laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
(iii) The Republic of Karakalpakstan.
The Republic of Karakalpakstan is a sovereign republic within the structure of the Republic
of Uzbekistan. It has its own constitution, which cannot contradict the Constitution of the Republic ofUzbekistan, and its own elected Council of Ministers.
4. Any legislative programmes or plans to change the regulatory regime
Oliy Majlis publishes agendas of its sessions, one month in advance.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 31
The list of the laws related to the trade and economic issues that was passed in spring
(25-26 April 1997), summer (29-30 August 1997), winter (25-27 December), spring (30 April –
1 May 1998) sessions of Oliy Majlis:
− Customs Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan
− Civil Procedural Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan
− Economic Procedural Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan
− Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan
− Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan
− Land Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan
− the Republic of Uzbekistan Law "On Customs Tariffs"
− the Republic of Uzbekistan Law "On Natural Monopolies"
− the Republic of Uzbekistan Law "On Guarantees and Free Access to Information"
− the Republic of Uzbekistan Law "On Chambers of Commodity Producers and
Entrepreneurs"
− the Republic of Uzbekistan Law "On Drafting Legislative Acts of the Republic of
Uzbekistan "
− the Republic of Uzbekistan La w "On a Rational Use of Energy"
− the Republic of Uzbekistan Law "On Medicines and Pharmaceutical Activities"
− the Republic of Uzbekistan Law "On Geodesy and Mapping"
− the Republic of Uzbekistan Law "On the Municipal Passenger Transport"
− the Republic of Uzbekistan Law "On Quality and Safety of Food"
− the Republic of Uzbekistan Law "On Improvement of Conditions of Agricultural
Enterprises"
− the Republic of Uzbekistan Law "On Protection and Use of Flora"
− the Republic of Uzbekistan Law "On Protection and Use of Fauna"
− the Law "On Mass Media"
− the Law "On Foreign Investment"
− the Law "On Guarantees and Measures for Protection of the Rights of Foreign
Investors"
− the Law "On Agricultural Co-operatives" (shirkats)
− the Law "On Peasant Farms"
− the Law "On Farms"
− the Law "On State Customs Service"
− the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On State Tax Service"
− the Law "On Pledge "
5. Laws and legislative acts
A list of laws and legislative acts that regulate economic activities and foreign trade in goods
and services is shown in Annex 2.
6. Description of  court, arbitration or administrative  tribunals or procedures
(a) Court procedures
Foreign companies are entitled to refer to th e economic (arbitration) court, using the same
rights as domestic companies.  A plaintiff should accompany his application to the economic courtwith the documents (copies of letters, etc.) supporting his claims.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 32
Court  proceedings  are  in the Uzbek  language   and/or in  any language acceptable to both
parties. All court proceedings are open for the public; closed hearings are allowed only in the
circumstances specified by  law (e.g., if a case concerns the state  and/or commercial  secrets).
The procedure depends on the amount claimed, location of parties and is conducted according
to the Economic Procedural Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Disputes are considered and determined by a single judge of the economic court having a
primary jurisdiction over disputes. At any stage before an award is made by the economic court, the
parties may agree a dispute settlement.  In such  event, the court will make a record about the
conditions of dispute settlement and will close the case.
An award of the economic court becomes enforceable 30 days after it was made. During this
time either party may appeal an award in the same court.  If an appeal is filed, a case is reviewed by a
panel of the arbitration court, consisting of not less than three judges. An appeal does not suspend,
however, an award of the court.
Within 30 days after the judgement becomes enforceable, either party may appeal an award in
the Supreme Economic Court. In such case the Supreme Economic Court may suspend an award by
an application of a party.
Note that an economic court may, wherever appropriate, apply foreign law. Furthermore, if an
international agreement provides an opportunity to apply another procedure, such a procedure will be
followed.
(b) Arbitration procedures
Foreign investors are entitled to settle disputes by referring to a court of arbitration, should it
have been agreed with another party. The parties are free to refer to arbitration in the Republic of
Uzbekistan or in any other place. Awards of a court of arbitration are enforced by the courts ofUzbekistan.
The Republic of Uzbekistan signed the New-York Convention (1958) on Recognition and
Enforcement of Foreign Arbitration Awards.
This way, the courts of Uzbekistan should ensure the enforcement of provisions of the
contract, the parties of which have agreed to refer a case to an international arbitration, including anarbitration award made by it, if the enforcement of award does not contradict the public policy or law
of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The Republic of Uzbekistan is also a party to the Convention on Settlement of Investment
Disputes. Thus the courts of Uzbekistan have an opportunity to enforce decisions of the International
Convention on Settlement of Investment Disputes.
(c) Administrative procedures
A dispute about a decision of a governmental body must be first appealed in the highest body
of a concerned agency or department.  A case may be appealed afterwards in a competent court.
Administrative decisions are made pursuant to the principles of the Code of the
Administrative Responsibility of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 22 September 1994.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 33
IV. POLICIES AFFECTING TRADE IN GOODS
1. Import Regulations
(a) Registration requirements on import transactions
In order to conduct foreign trade or other economic activities, an enterprise (organisation),
after a state registration and inclusion into the State Register of Enterprises, should be registered by
the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations (MFER).
Any legal entity, except non-commercial organisations, may be registered by MFER as a
participant of foreign economic relations.
An enterprise registration and inclusion into the Register of the Participants of Foreign
Economic Relations is made on a personal appearance of applicant. For companies with the foreign
investment, the period of registration as a participant of foreign economic relations by MFER is three
days from the submission of applicant’s documents; for other organisation this period is five
operational days. An enterprise (organisation) is subject to the annual renewal of registration as aparticipant of foreign economic relations. For registration as a participant of foreign economic
relations a fee amounting five minimum wages is charged. As of July  1998 this amount was
Sum 5,500 (about US$60.)
(i) Import contract registration
According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 137 of 31 March  1998, the
instruction of MFER, Ministry of Finance and the State Customs Committee No 424 was devised in
order to determine the procedure of registration of import contracts by MFER.
Contract registration should be made within ten operational days from the date the applicant’s
documents were received by MFER.
The major purpose of registration is a protection of the state interests and of the interests of
Uzbek companies during import operations, protection of consumers from low-quality goods and
streamlining of foreign exchange operations.
The "Procedures of Registration of Import Contracts by MFER" registered by the Ministry of
Justice on 8 April 1998, under No 424, laid down the grounds for a refusal of contract registration, in
particular, in case of non-compliance with the standards of the international trade law or with theeffective law of the Republic of Uzbekistan, or in case of importation of ecologically harmful
technologies, equipment or other goods.
A decision to refuse a contract registration should be reasoned and presented to an applicant
in writing. An unreasonable denial to register a contract may be appealed in a court procedure.
According to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 8 February 1998
"On Additional Measures for Streamlining Import Operations", import contracts of only those
economic entities who have no foreign exchange of  their own are subject to registration by MFER.
The import contracts registration process is regularly liberalising.
(b) Characteristics of  national tariffs, customs tariff nomenclature (harmonised system), types of
duties, a general description of the customs tariff structure, weighted average level of duties on main
groups of customs tariffs. application of  MFN tariff rates, tariff preferencesWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 34
(i) Import customs tariffs
With the objectives of a further liberalisation of foreign economic activities and for an
improvement of regulations of export-import operation, the Presidential Decree No. UP-1871 of
10 October 1997 introduced new rates of import customs duties on 1 November 1997. The
Presidential Decree introduced a 3 per cent minimum rate of customs duties for all imported goods,
(work and services), except for the goods listed  in Annex 1 to the Resolution of the Cabinet of
Ministers of 24 February 1998 No 80 "On Measures of Tariff Regulations".
According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of 31 March 1998 No 137 "On
additional Measures for Liberalisation of Foreign Trade Activities in the Republic of Uzbekistan", the
aforementioned rates are the rates of the most favoured nation treatment (MNF). The tariff rates
applied in respect of those countries to which the MFN treatment is not used are double the MFN
rates.
The list of tariff rates on goods (work and services) with a designation of their code in  the
Nomenclature of Goods of Foreign Economic Activities was approved by the Resolution of the
Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekist an of 24 February 1998 No 80 "On Tariff Regulation
Measures" (set forth in Annex 10 to this Memorandum).
The Law "On the Customs Tariff", passed by Oliy Majlis on 29 August 1997, in force since 1
January 1998, specifies the following types of rates of customs duties:
− ad valorem  rate, assessed as a percentage of the customs value of goods;
− specific rates, assessed as a fixed amount for a unit of taxable goods;
− combined rates that combine the two mentioned types of rates.
The Law "On the Customs Tariff" provided that the upper levels of the rates of import
customs duties applied in respect of goods originating from the countries to which the Republic of
Uzbekistan applies the most favoured national treatment should be established by the legislature.
Imported goods originating from the customs territories of the countries which signed the
Agreements about Free Trade Areas (see part VII of this Memorandum) are not subject to importcustoms duties. The said countries are entered in the list registered by the Ministry of Justice on April
8, 1998, No 429. This regime is applied to the trade with Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, the Ukraine and Tadjikistan.
(ii) Most Favoured Nation Treatment
The list of countries to which the Republic of Uzbekistan provided MNF treatment was
registered by the Ministry of Justice on 8 April 1998, No 426. It includes:WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 35
1.  Austria 10.  Ireland 19.  Pakistan 28.  Czech Republic
2.  Belgium 11.  Spain 20.  Portugal 29.  Switzerland
3.  United Kingdom 12.  Italy 21.  Poland 30.  Sweden
4.  Hungary 13. Republic of Korea 22.  Romania 31.  Estonia
5.  Vietnam 14.  China 23.  Slovak Republic 32.  Japan6.  Germany 15.  Latvia 24.  United States 33.  Malaysia
7.  Greece 16.  Lithuania 25.  Turkey 34.  Jordan
8.  Denmark 17.  Luxembourg 26.  Finland 35.  Saudi Arabia
9.  India 18.  Netherlands 27.  France
(iii) Customs tariff nomenclature
Uzbekistan applies the Nomenclature of Goods of Foreign Economic Activities developed on
the basis of the Harmonised System of Goods Description and Coding (HS) and on the Combined
Nomenclature of the European Union.
All codes of goods consist of nine decimal digits:
− digits 1-6 correspond to the code of classification grouping of goods in the Harmonised
System;
− digits 7-8 correspond to the code of goods in the EU Combined     Nomenclature;
− digits 9-0 designate to distinguish traditional goods of the Nomenclature of Goods of
Foreign Economic Activities.
(iv) Weighted average level of import duties
Under the existing tariff regime, the weighted average rate of import duties on all imports in
1998 was about 5.0  per cent.
(v) Tariff preferences.
The Republic of Uzbekistan does not apply the system of tariff preferences used by WTO.
(c) Tariff Quotas, Tariff Exemptions
The Republic of Uzbekistan has no tariff quotas.
By Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of 31 March 1998 No 137 "On Additional
Measures for Liberalisation of Foreign Trade Activities in the Republic of Uzbekistan"  the following
goods were made exempt from the payment of customs duties:
(i) goods supplied under intergovernmental or credit  agreements signed on behalf of the
Government of Uzbekistan or against its guarantees;
(ii) goods imported from the countries with whom Uzbekistan have signed agreements on a
free trade regime;
(iii) goods imported using budgetary funds according to the resolutions of the Government of
the Republic;WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 36
(iv) goods imported by foreign legal persons making a direct foreign investment to the
country’s economy of more than US$50 mln., on condition that such imported goods are
of their own production.
The goods  imported into the customs territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan and exported
from it according to the established procedures are not subject to customs duties, if:
− they are brought as exhibits for exhibitions, advertisement or presentations;
− they have a form of raw or other materials, components carried in (out) for an industrial
processing and obtaining products subject to be carried out (in).
According to the Article 12 of the Republic of Uzbekistan Law of 30 April 1998 "On the
Foreign Investment", the property brought for production purposes or for personal needs of the
foreign staff of enterprises with foreign investment is exempt from customs duties.
Pursuant to the Article 33 of the Law "On the Customs Tariff", the following items are
exempt from the payment of customs duties:
− transportation vehicles engaged in international transportation of cargo, luggage and
passengers as well as their logistic facilities, fuel, food and other property required for aregular operation in transit, in the places of stop-over or the property acquired abroad
because of an emergency (break-down) of such transportation vehicles;
− domestic currency of the Republic of Uzbekistan, foreign exchange (except for
numismatics) and securities, pursuant to the Law;
− logistic facilities, fuel, food and other property taken outside the customs territory in
order to ensure the operation of ships of the Republic of Uzbekistan, ships leased by
legal and physical persons of the Republic of Uzbekistan, ships engaged in fish-
catching or the products of fish-catching brought onto the customs territory of the
Republic of Uzbekistan;
− goods subject to be transferred into the property of the state in cases specified by law;
− goods brought onto the customs territory or taken outside it for an official or personal
use by the representatives of foreign states or by physical persons entitled to a duty-free
importation of such objects, based on the law or international treaties of the Republic of
Uzbekistan;
− goods carried onto the customs territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan or carried from
it as a humanitarian assistance, grant aid or for charity purposes in which are involved
the states, international organisations, in cluding for a technical assistance and for
elimination the consequences of emergencies or natural disasters; school textbooks for
free education, pre-school and medical treatment institutions;
− transit goods moved under the customs control through the customs territory and
intended for third countries;
− goods moved across the customs border by physical persons and not intended for
manufacturing or commercial activities, pursuant to the customs law.
(d) Other duties and charges, specifying any fees for services renderedWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 37
(i) Customs fees/charges
According to a new Customs Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan passed on 29 August 1997
by Oliy Majlis, the following fees are levied for: (i) customs formalities; (ii) customs services; and
(iii) issuance of the customs certificate.
These charges are identical to those already provided for by the State Tax Committee Order
No. 218 "On Rates of Fees for Customs Procedures a nd Services and for the Issue of Certificates" of
31 December 1994. Those rates are set forth in the following tables:
Table IV-1:  Rates of Customs Fees for Customs Formalities
Types of customs procedures linked with Rates as percentage of the
invoiced price of goods
1.
2.
3.Export/Import Operations
Goods for Exhibition and Other Goods Imported &Exported Temporarily
Supply of Grains, Sugar and Equipment for
Industrial Units either in the Process of Construction
or Subject to Rehabilitation0.15
0.15
0.05
Table IV-2:  Rates of Fees for Customs Services
Types of customs services Rates as a multiple of the
minimum monthly wages
1. Instruction provided to a specialist on declaring goods 3
2. For calling a customs officer to make customs formalities
outside a station, including of the goods under the customs
control on the territory of enterprises  and organisationsthat provide such a storage, per one man/hour:
- during work hours (9:00-18:00)
- beyond the hours of work (18.00 - 9.00), on 
Saturdays, Sundays and on the days-off0.1
0.2
3. Processing cargo for exhibitions, per one man/hour:
- during work hours
- beyond the hours of work (18.00 - 9.00), on 
Saturdays, Sundays and on the days-off0.2
0.4
4. Certificate issue of the right to register and re-register the
transportation vehicles brought by citizens to the Republicof Uzbekistan, including for a time being:
-C a r s
- lorries, vans, buses;
- transportation facilities not driven by engines 
(trailers, semi-trailers, summer cottages and other)
- motorcycles, scooters, motorbikes3
4
2
1.2
5. Issue of written certificates of the import/export of goods,
copies of  declarations, inventory journals of goods and
foreign currency and other data0.3
6. Inspection of  one lorry:
- with cargo-e m p t y0.2
0.1
7. Inspection of one bus 0.2
8. Inspection of one car 0.2WT/ACC/UZB/2
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Table IV-3:  Rates of Fees for the Issue of Customs Certificates
Types of certificates Rates as a multiple of the
minimum monthly salary
1. Issue of a qualification certificate to a expert on declaration of
goods5
2. Issue of a certificate of the right to declare goods on a
contractual basis as a broker25
3. Issue of a certificate of the right to open a duty-free shop 50
4. Issue of a certificate of the right to establish a customs
warehouse having a total area of:
- up to 500 square meters
- up to 1,000 square meters
- more than 1,000 square meters50
60
70
5. Issue of a permit for processing of temporarily imported foreign
goods (raw materials)10
Proceeds are transferred to the accounts of the departments of the State Customs Committee
and are used for their development.
Paragraph 2 of the aforementioned Order No. 218 identified the following goods to be exempt
from charges for customs procedures:
(i) goods imported to or exported from the Republic of Uzbekistan at the total value of
less than ten minimum wages;
(ii) goods imported to or exported from the Republic of Uzbekistan as a humanitarian aid;
(iii) military ammunition imported and exported by the Ministry of Defence, by the
National Security or by the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Uzbekistan;  and
(iv) Goods intended for an official use by diplomatic missions of foreign states,
international organisations or associations  provided with customs privileges in the
territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
(e) Quantitative restrictions of import, including prohibitions, quota and licensing systems
(i) Quotas
The Republic of Uzbekistan applies no import quotas.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 39
(ii) Import prohibitions
Annex No. 5 to the Presidential Decree No. UP-1871 of 10 October 1997 specifies the list of
items prohibited for importation to the Republic of Uzbekistan. The list includes published materials,
manuscripts, stamps, drawings, pictures, films, negatives, movies, video and audio products,
phonographs, recordings and records that are aimed at (i) undermining the State and the public order,
(ii) violating the Republic’s territorial integrity, or its political or state sovereignty, (iii) propaganda ofwar, terrorism, or violence, (iv) ethnic superiority, or (v) religious hatred, racism or its varieties (anti-
Semitism, fascism), or pornographic materials.
In accordance to the Governmental Resolution # 213 dated May 15, 1998 the entry and transit
of ethylic alcohol is prohibited.
(f) Import licensing procedures
Information on import licensing procedures in the Republic of Uzbekistan is set forth in
Annex 3 to this Memorandum.
(g) Other border measures
The Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 95 of 13 March 1996 "On Measures for Improving
Control over the Use of Foreign Exchange for Foreign Trade Operations" (with amendments as of
14August 1996, 1 November 1996, 21 November 1996 and 24 February 1998) requires a registration
of "passports of import operations" (a document describing a contract on import and its terms, it is tobe signed by an importer, a bank official and a customs officer).
Pursuant to this Resolution, the banks are authorised to make advance payments at an amount
not exceeding fifteen percent of the value of  contract. The remaining contract amount is paid on
importer’s surrender of a customs declaration, certifying the customs clearance of goods, to the bank.
(h) Customs valuation
The Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On the Customs Tariff" specifies provisions on the
calculation of the customs value. Pursuant to the mentioned Law, from 1 January 1998 the rates of
customs duties are calculated on the basis of the customs value of goods (work, services).
According to the customs legislation, the customs value is used for levying ad valorem  rates
of duty, customs fees, VAT and excise taxes. The customs value is also applied in foreign tradestatistics and for other trade regulation measures by the state, if they need to have a value of goods.
For additional information, see Annex 4 of this Memorandum.
(i) Other customs formalities
In accordance to the existing regulation in order to facilitate clearance of exported or
imported cargoes the customs bodies have to receive necessary certificates, invoices; contract andcargo customs declaration.
Customs officers have the right to request the documents of origin on the basis of which
declaration was filled-out, should the presented data cause some queries or doubts.
(j) Pre-shipment inspectionWT/ACC/UZB/2
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In order to ensure the importation of quality consumer goods, foodstuffs, machinery,
equipment and technologies the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan adopted the
Resolution No. 534 " On Measures for an Independent Expertise of Contracts and Pre-shipment
Inspection of Imported Goods" of 3 December 1997. This Resolution provides for an independent
contract expertise to be conducted by consulting firms as to the compliance with quality, quantity,
level of prices of imported goods and other contract terms and to ensure a pre-shipment inspection.
An independent examination of import contracts and a pre-shipment inspection of imported
goods has to be done by the consulting firms pursuant to the requirements of the International
Federation of Inspection Agencies who should be accredited by Uzgosstandard (State Standards
Committee) under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, according to the
procedures internationally accepted and approved by the International Chamber of Commerce,
exporter’ standards of guarantees, and the GATT/ WTO Agreement about a Pre-shipment Inspection.
The economic entities of Uzbekistan engaged in importation of goods, have rights at their
own discretion, refer to consulting firms in order to have a contract expertise and a pre-shipment
inspection.
A pre-shipment inspection is not applied to:
− importation of goods under contracts of a total value not more than $50,000; or
− importation of specific goods whose import is subject to licensing of MFER of the
Republic of Uzbekistan.
(k) Application of domestic taxes to imports
(i) Value Added Tax (VAT)
The Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan established a 20  per cent rate of VAT for the
goods (work, services) imported to the Republic of Uzbekistan. For four types of foodstuffs (flour,
bread, meat and milk) the rate of VAT is 10  per cent.
VAT on imported goods is paid before or during the customs formalities.The Article 71 of the Tax Code describes the list of VAT exemptions. According to the
Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 19 January 1998, technological equipment
brought to the Republic of Uzbekistan is exempt from VAT, if it is:
− intended for the priority projects of the 1998 investment programme;
− intended for implementation of investment projects financed by means of foreign loans
guaranteed be the Government;
− intended for the enterprises which are in the process of construction or rehabilitation or
are specialised in the consumer goods production;
− brought by foreign investors as their contribution to the statutory capital of enterprises
with foreign investment.WT/ACC/UZB/2
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(ii) Excise tax
Pursuant to the Article 82 of the Tax Code, the list of goods subject to the excise tax and the
rates of the excise tax are established by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The rates and list of goods subject to the excise tax on import, export and domestics
production are set forth in Annex 9 to this Memorandum.
For imported goods that are subject to the excise tax, the latter shall be rated from the customs
value determined in conformity with the customs legislation.
Excise taxes on imported goods should be paid before or during the customs formalities.
(l) Rules of origin
The Articles 24-31 of the Republic Uzbekistan Law "On the Customs Tariff" of
29 August 1997 establish the rules of goods origin. The aforementioned rules comply on the wholewith the rules of goods origin introduced by the GATT Agreement about the Rules of Origin.
The Law "On the Customs Tariff" introduced the rules of goods origin that are based on
international standards in respect of two main catego ries of goods: (i) the goods  produced entirely in
one county and only such a country may be considered in determining the origin; or (ii) the goods thathave undergone a "sufficient processing", or the goods  manufactured, processed or assembled in one
country while some of the used components were from at least another country.
The first category covers mainly natural products,  such as live animals, plants, minerals, etc.,
whereas the second category includes the goods manufactured in one country with the help of some
component from abroad.
In the latter case, the criteria of a "sufficient level of processing" of goods are applied in order
to determine a country of origin, such as:
− whether a commodity position (classification of the code of goods according to the
Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activities) modified on the level of
any of the 4 first digits was a result of goods processing (or of component orcomponents brought from abroad for the production of final goods);
− whether the manufacturing or technological ope rations were sufficient or not sufficient
for the goods to be considered originating from that country were such operations weremade; or
− the rule of a share of ad valorem  - modification of the value of goods (whether a
significant share of value was added to the value of final goods in the country ofproduction).
In order to confirm the origin of goods, the customs authorities of Uzbekistan require
presentation of the internationally recognised certificate of origin.
(m) Anti-dumping regime
The Law "On the Customs Tariff" of 29 August 1997 (Article 9) allows to introduce anti-
dumping duties on goods which are imported to the customs territory of Uzbekistan at lower prices
than the prime cost of exporter’s goods in the exporting country, should such importation be able toWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 42
bring a  material damage or is fraught with damage to the domestic producers of similar or
competitive goods, or should it create some impediments for the establishment or expansion of the
production of similar goods in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The introduction of anti-dumping duties should be preceded by an investigation conducted by
the initiative of the customs bodies, pursuant to the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan.  A decision
about the introduction of antidumping  duties should be based on data that is assessed in a quantitative
way. The rates of relevant duties are established by the Cabinet of Ministers, based on the outcomes
of investigation of every case. The rates should be determined proceeding from dumping prices and
from the material damage discovered during investigation.
The Republic of Uzbekistan has not introduced yet any of such anti-dumping duties.
The Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan is currently drafting the Law "On
Antidumping Duties" which will be developed according to the WTO rules.
(n) Countervailing duty regime
The Law "On the Customs Tariff" of 29 August 1997 (Article 10) provides for countervailing
duties on the importation to the customs territory of Uzbekistan of the goods, the production or export
of which, directly or indirectly, was linked with subsidies,  should the importation of such goods be
able to bring material damage or is fraught with a material damage to the domestic producers of
similar or competitive goods, or should it create some impediments for the establishment or expansionof  the production of similar goods in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The procedural rules of introduction of countervailing duties are the same as for antidumping
duties.
The Republic of  Uzbekistan has not introduced yet any of such countervailing duties.
The Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan is drafting the Law "On Countervailing
Duties" which will be developed according to the WTO rules.
(o) Safeguard measures
The Law "On the Customs Tariff" of 29 August 1997 (Article 8) provides for an introduction
of special duties (safeguard measures). Such special duties are envisaged for the cases when goods are
imported in such quantities and on such terms that they are capable of bringing damage or are fraughtwith material damage to the domestic producers of similar or competitive goods; or as a measure to
respond to the discriminatory or other actions of other countries or their allies, if such measures
concern the interests of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan is drafting the Law "On Safeguard Measures"
which will be developed according to the WTO rules.
Retaliation.
The Law "On the Customs Tariff" of 29 August 1997 allows the introduction of special duties
as a measure of retaliation against discriminatory actions taken by another country or alliance of
countries against the Republic of Uzbekistan. In addition, the above-mentioned Law allows the
introduction of retaliation duties to respond to other actions of a country or alliance of countries
against the Republic of Uzbekistan.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 43
The Republic of Uzbekistan has not introduced yet any of such duties.
2. Export Regulations
(a) Registration requirements for export operations
In order to engage in foreign trade or other foreign economic activities, an enterprise
(organisation) after its state registration and inclusion into the State Register of Enterprises should be
registered by the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations (MFER).
Any legal entity, except non-commercial organisations, may be registered by MFER as a
participant of foreign economic relations. The registration and inclusion of enterprises into the
Register of the Participants of Foreign Economic Relations requires a personal appearance of the
applicant:
For enterprises with foreign investment, the period for registration as a participant of foreign
economic relations by MFER is three operational days since the date of receipt of applicant’s
documents, for other organisations - 5 operational days.
An enterprise (organisation) is subject to renew annually its registration as a participant of
foreign economic relations.
For registration as a participant of foreign economic relations a fee of five minimum wages is
charged. As of June 1998 this fee was Sum 5 500 (about US$60).
(b) Customs tariff nomenclature, types of duties, duty rates, weighted average rates
Pursuant to the Presidential Decree N o. UP-1871 of 10 October 1997 "On Additional
Measures to Encourage the Export of Goods (Work,  Services)," export customs duties on all types of
goods (work, services) were abolished since 1 November 1997.
(c) Quantitative export restrictions, including prohibitions, quotas and licensing systems
(i) General description of the system. the scope of application and objectives
Since 1 November 1997 licensing of and quotas for export of goods (work, services) is
abolished, with a small number of exceptions (see below).
(d) Export licensing procedures
Pursuant to the Presidential Decree 10 Octo ber 1997 "On Additional Measures to Provide
Incentives for the Export of Goods (Works, Services)," export licensing requirements for goods(work, services) were abolished since 1 November 1997, except of specific goods listed in
Table IV-4.WT/ACC/UZB/2
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Table IV-4:  List of specific goods, the export and import of which requires
licenses from the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, based on the Instructions
of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Brief Description of Goods Code, according to the Trade Nomenclature of
Foreign Economic Activities
Weapons and military ammunition, special
components for their production8526 (only for military purposes),  8710, 8802
(except 8802 11 100, 8802 12 100, 8802 20 100,8802 30 100, 8802 40 100), 8803 100 (except
8803 10 100, 8803 20 100, 8803 30 100, 8803 90
910), 8805 (except 8805 20 100), 8906 00 100,
9013 10, 9013 20, 9013 80, 9014, 9301, 9302,
9305 (only for combat arms), 9306 (except 930610, 9306 29 100, 9306 29 200, 9306 29 400, 9306
30 910, 9306 30 930).
Precious metals, alloys, articles thereof, ores,concentrates, scrap and waste of precious
metals, precious natural stones and articles
thereof, waste thereof, powders and recuperator
of precious natural stones, pearls and articles
thereof, amber and articles thereof.2843, 3006 40 (only from precious metals), 7106-
7115, 7118 (only from precious metals) 9003 19
100, 9021 29 100, 9101, 9111 10 000, 9113 10
000, 9608 10 300, 9608 39 100, 9705 (only coins
from precious stones), 7116 (only from pearl and
natural precious stones), 9602 (processed amber
and articles thereof).
Uranium and other radioactive substances,articles thereof, waste of radioactive substances.2612 (only uranium concentrates), 2844, 2845.
Devices and equipment employing radioactive
substances8401.
Annex 2 of the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 137 dated March 31, 1998 sets forth the
list of specific goods (work and services) the export and import of which is by the clearance of the
authorised bodies of the Republic of Uzbekistan ( Table IV -5).
Table IV –5:  List of specific goods (work and services) the export and import of which requires
permissions of the Authorised Bodies of the Republic of Uzbekistan
No. Brief Description Organs Authorised to issue a permit
1. Professional activities of citizens of the
Republic of Uzbekistan working abroad and of
foreign citizens working in the Republic of
UzbekistanMinistry of Labour
2. Imports of films, videos and audio productions. Ministry of Culture
3. Export of scientific (research) works, know-
how, inventionsState Committee for Science and Technology
4. Investment abroad MFER
5. International transportation MFER
6. Exports of the work of arts Ministry of Culture
7. Exports of animals and plants entered in the
Red Book of the Republic of UzbekistanState Committee for Nature ProtectionWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 45
(i) Prohibitions.
Annex No. 6 to  the Presidential Decree No. UP-1871 of 10 October 1997 set forth the list of
articles prohibited for transit through the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan. This list includes (1)
weapons, ammunition and military equipment; (2) aircraft, their parts, devices and equipment (3)
machine tools and machinery for the manufacture of weapons, ammunitions and aircraft; (4)
explosive agents; (5) strong poisons; and (6) articles banned for importation to the Republic ofUzbekistan. The transit of the above-listed articles might be allowed by the clearance for transit issued
by MFER, upon co-ordination with the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In
accordance to Cabinet of Ministers’ Resolution # 213 dated May 15, 1998 transit through the territory
of the Republic of Uzbekistan of ethylic alcohol is prohibited.
Annex No. 4 to the  Presidential Decree No. UP-1871 of 10 October 1997 set forth the list of
goods and products the export of which is prohibited. This list is set forth in Table 1 of Annex 11 to
this Memorandum.
Export licensing procedures  for the above-mentioned specific goods are similar to import
licensing procedures set forth in Annex 3 of this Memorandum.
(e) Other measures, e.g. minimum export prices, voluntary export restrictions, orderly marketing
arrangements
(i) Minimum export prices
The Republic of Uzbekistan has no system of minimum export prices. However, export
contracts for raw materials  (such as cotton, and ferrous and non-ferrous metals) are subject to a price
expertise by MFER in order to check the compliance of export prices with world prices.
(ii) Excise tax on exports.
Certain goods are subject to the excise tax wh en exported from the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The list of such goods and the applicable rates are contained in Annex 9 to this Memorandum.
Pursuant to the Article 80 of the Tax Code (in effect from 1 January 1998) the export of
goods subject to the excise is not imposed by th e excise tax, except in cases when goods (work,
services) are sold to the states which apply a regime of imposition of the excise tax in respect of the
export of goods (work, services ) to the Republic of Uzbekistan.
(f) Export financing, subsidy and promotion policies
Pursuant to the Presidential Decree of 18 February 1997, the National Insurance Company
"Uzbekinvest," set up in April 1994, was transformed as a national company of export-import
insurance, including the insurance of export credits. According to Paragraph 2 of this Decree, the
main objectives of Uzbekinvest are (i) insurance against political or commercial risks of domesticexporters, and (ii) guarantees to export creditors.  The Decree also specifies that the guarantor of
obligations of Uzbekistan is the Ministry of Finance.
Under the new Tax Code, the newly created manufacturing enterprises with a foreign
participation which produce export-orientated and import-substituting goods are temporarily exempt
from income (profit) tax:
− for five years since the beginning of producti on, if more than 25 per cent of output are
goods for children. Afterwards the applicable rate is half the effective one; andWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 46
− for two years since the beginning of product ion, if the share of foreign capital in the
statutory funds of a company is 50 per cent and more.
A zero rate of VAT  is imposed for the export of goods (work and services), except in cases
when goods (work, services) are sold to the states  which apply a regime of imposition of this tax in
respect of the export of goods (work, services ) to the Republic of Uzbekistan.6
According to the Tax Code, the export of goods subject to excise is not imposed by the excise
tax, except the cases when goods (work, services) are sold to the states which apply a regime of
imposition of the excise tax in respect of the export of goods (work, services ) to the Republic of
Uzbekistan.
Pursuant to the Presidential Decree No.UP-1871 of 10 October 1997 "On Additional
Measures for Providing Incentives for the  Export of Goods (Work and Services)", the following
privileges and preferences were provided to enterp rises exporting goods (work, services) of their own
production for a freely convertible currency since November 1,  1997:
− the right to export goods of their own production without an advance payment or an
opening of a letter of credit, under a guaran tee of an authorised bank and in compliance
with the period of receipt of proceeds in foreign exchange specified by the existing law;
− in cases when the share of exported goods is 30  per cent or more of total sales, the rate
of profit tax is half the existing one;
− January 1, 1998 and onwards, enterprises exporting goods of their own production to
CIS countries for a freely convertible currency are exempt from excise and value addedtaxes, if otherwise has not been provided for by international agreements.
The stated privileges and preferences do not cover trade and intermediary organisations nor
manufacturing enterprises that export raw materials (see Annex 11 to this Memorandum).
(g) Export performance requirements
The Republic of Uzbekistan has no special export performance requirements.  However, it has
some programmes of export promotion (see Sections  3.d, 3.f. and 3.g. of this Part IV and Section 2.b
of Part II).
(h) Import duty drawback schemes
Under the new Customs Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, drawback of the paid import
customs duties may be granted in respect of goods imported for processing. For drawback of the
duties, the goods should be processed within a specified time, and the processed goods should be
exported within two years from the date of importation of their relevant components.
The Customs Code also envisages an opportuni ty to obtain an exemption from duties and
taxes on those goods that were declared as the goods for re-export, provided that such goods will be
actually re-exported within six months from their importation. If the goods have not been re-exported
within six months, they will be subject to duties, taxes and interest. The drawback of duties and taxes
may be granted if (1) the goods are re-exported on the same terms as when imported, (2) re-export iswithin two years after importatio n, and (3) re-exported goods have not been used for obtaining
income.
                                                     
6 i.e. CIS countries.WT/ACC/UZB/2
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3. Internal policies affecting foreign trade in goods
(a) Industrial policy
The mid-term programme of structural adjustments of industry for 1996-2000 envisages the
following major objectives:
− to support efficient and competitive producers , liquidating gradually the obsolete
production in  both state and private sectors;
− to ensure an efficient use of resources, to maintain the most valuable components of the
scientific and technical potential, and to overcome structural distortions;
− to facilitate enterprises to adjust to the requirements of the market economy; and
− to have a targeted development of the foreign economic relations.
The critical factor of the structural policy for 1996-2000 will be to provide a state support to
the most efficient production, to reorganise and re-orient inefficient enterprises and excessive
capacities both in the state and private sectors, to carry out a technological rehabilitation of all
industries, to introduce vigorously resource-efficie nt technologies providing to improve the quality of
goods and thus - to raise their competitiveness.
The Government has devised a general policy and strategy for the creation of a wide-scale
market economy, attraction of foreign investment, technology in all economic sectors in order to
advance to a wide-scale market economy and privatisation of state enterprises.
(b) Technical norms and standards, including the measures applied at the border with a respect of
import (see Annex 5 to this memorandum)
Standards and requirements of certification in the Republic of Uzbekistan are not intended for
creating technical barriers to the trade.
These standards and requirements of certification are aimed at (i) ensuring the safety and/or
quality of goods, work and services, (ii) protecting the environment and health, life, work and
property of citizens, and also ensuring the safety of labour conditions, (iii) ensuring the uniformity of
quantitative measurement, technological compatibility and inter-changeability of products, and (iv)
preservation of all types of resources.
Annex 5 to this Memorandum provides a detailed description of the law and procedures
related to the technological provisions, standards and requirements of certification.
(c) Sanitary and phytosanitary measures, including the measures in respect of imports
The policy of the Government of Uzbekistan on developing and maintaining sanitary
standards is aimed at protecting the life and health of people, animals and plants, and not at creatingtechnical barriers to foreign goods, nor protecting domestic producers.
Based on the Law "On the State Sanitary Control" of 3 July 1992, the Ministry of Health
undertakes hygienic certification and expertise of many imported consumer goods (food, raw
materials, medicines, chemicals and minerals).  The aforementioned goods should meet medical and
biological standards No. 0065-96. In case of non-compliance with these standards, the goods areprohibited for importation to the Republic of Uzbekistan and use therein.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 48
The organisation and implementation of the veterinary control measures are pursuant to the
Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Ve terinary" of 3 September 1993 (on account of
modifications and amendments as of 6 May  1995 and 25 April 1997) and other legislative acts passed
on the basis of it.
The legislation on veterinary defines the main objectives of the veterinary service, the system
of its management, the authority of the  state veterinary inspectors, the rights and duties of the ownersof livestock  and livestock products, the procedures of imposing or lifting a quarantine in case of
contagious disease of livestock, and other organisational and legal issues related to the veterinary
service.
The State Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources
manages the network of veterinary services.  Its divisions regulate the cross-border and internal
transportation of animals.
The State Veterinary Department makes an assessment of epizootic situation in the Republic
of Uzbekistan and exercises control over the protect ion of the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan
from the penetration of infectious diseases of animals from abroad, by means of adopting relevant
measures of control over the procurement, transportation, export and import of livestock and its
products, fodder, fodder additions and other means applied in agriculture. This service requires legal
and physical persons of the Republic of Uzbekistan to apply measures for the prevention andelimination of transmittable disease and for the spreading of information required for defining an
epizootic condition of animals.
No restrictions on imports of meat and meat products exist.  However, since 3 April 1996 a
temporary prohibition on the import of meat, milk products and live animals from the United
Kingdom is in effect because of a discovered disease of cattle. The importation of meat and milkproducts from other countries is allowed subject to the availability of a certificate of goods’ origin.
The State Inspection for Plant Quarantine under the Ministry of Agriculture and Water
Resources exercises control over the import and export of plants and implements a uniform state
quarantine control over plants. The State Inspection arranges its work, proceeding from the
requirements of plant quarantine, which provides for an application of different governmental, socialand other measures in respect of plant protection and prevention of the spreading of their disease.
(d) Trade-related investment measures
The Republic of  Uzbekistan applies no trade-re lated investment measures (TRIM) that would
be inconsistent with the provisions of paragraph 4 of Article III or paragraph 1 of Article XI of
GATT 1994.
This was determined in the light of the illust rative list of inconsistencies with TRIMs attached
in  Annex to the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures.
(e) State-trading practices (See Annex 6 to this memorandum)
The Republic of Uzbekistan has largely dismantled the system of the state trade inherited
from the Soviet Union.
The following items still remain to some degree to be objects of the state foreign trade:
cotton, grain, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, oil, natural gas, and coal.  The regime of trade in suchgoods is described in Annex 6 to this Memorandum.
(f) Free zonesWT/ACC/UZB/2
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The Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Free Economic Areas" of 25 April 1996
envisages the creation of free trade areas, which may consist of consignment warehouses, freecustoms areas and the areas of goods processing, packaging, sorting and storage. However, no such
areas have been created yet.
The Customs Code has provisions on the creation of free customs areas and free warehouses.
Both in free customs areas and in free warehouses, it is envisaged to conduct production and all othercommercial operations, except the retail trade. Customs duties and taxes on the goods brought to such
areas and warehouses or from them are not levied, nor the economic restrictions applied, until the
goods enter the customs territory of Uzbekistan.
(g) Free economic areas
The Law "On Free Economic Areas" of 25 April 1996 envisages the creation of free
economic areas. However, no such areas have been created yet.
(h) Trade-related environmental policies
The State Committee of Nature Protection is a state body authorised to implement the
environmental control and to make an efficient use of natural resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Pursuant to the Article 89 of the Code of the Administrative Responsibility of the Republic of
Uzbekistan adopted on September 22, 1994, the bodies of the State Committee for Nature Protection
are responsible for the control over the enforcement of the rules of transportation, storage and
application of plant protection measures, plant stimulators, mineral fertiliser and other chemicals and
preparations that are capable of causing a contamination of soil, water or atmospheric  air or
destroying flora and fauna.
(i) Special regulations related to the mixing of component of different goods, depending on the
source of their origin
The Republic of Uzbekistan has no mixing requirements or regulations. It has no local content
requirements either.
(j) Government-mandated counter-trade and barter
The Republic of Uzbekistan has no system of government-mandated counter-trade and barter.Counter-trade and barter arrangements are allowed in Uzbekistan on particular terms.
Every barter-based contract must provide, firs t of all, a delivery of imported goods or bank
guarantee for the goods exported from Uzbekistan, and also must have a provision on the sale of a
part of freely convertible currency to be received upon a completion of transaction on the over-the-counter currency market of the Republic of Uzbe kistan. However, barter transactions are rare in
reality, mainly only for state needs.
(k) Trade agreements leading to country-specific quota allocation
Except some quantitative restrictions provided in the Agreement on Trade in Textile and
Clothing  with the European Union (See Section 5.a of this Part IV below), the Republic of
Uzbekistan has no trade agreements containing provisions that would require or lead to a country-specific quota allocationWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 50
(l) Government procurement practices, including a general legal regime and procedures of
applications linked with tenders and award of contracts
Pursuant to the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 397 of 14 August 1997, "On the
Improvement of the System of Procurement of Basic Foodstuffs for the State Needs," the Ministry ofFinance, proceeding from an estimated demand (population, consumption standards and an average
weighted market prices), determines the upper limits of funding the procurements of each type of
foodstuffs for the next year and directly informs relevant ministries, departments, the Council of
Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan,  khokimiyats of regions and of Tashkent City.
The procurement of basic foodstuffs for the state needs is, as a rule, on the basis of
competitive tendering.
Such procurement is conducted by means of direct contracts with the domestic goods
producers or by the purchase of goods at fairs or bidding arranged the Republic Joint-Stock
Association for Wholesale and Commodity Exchan ge, "Uzulgurjibirjasavdo." The contracts may be
signed in such a case, upon receiving a consent (regarding prices) of the Ministry of Finance or of its
local bodies.
Import procurements are only on the basis of tenders. Tenders are conducted according to the
procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers.
For a pre-qualification selection and tender bidding on the republican level, there was
established the Republic Commission for Coordination of Tenders for the Procurement of Main
Foodstuffs for the State Needs.
The main agency responsible for the arrangement of tender bidding, including a pre-
qualification selection of suppliers and an expert assessment of tenders, is the Agency for  Tenders
("Uzbektenderconsulting"), a special self-supporting division under MFER.
Proceeding from the applications of customers approved by the Ministry of Finance,
"Uzbektenderconsulting" announces tenders in mass media, not later than 20 days before the date of
bidding. Instructions for the preparation and submi ssion of bids, basic terms of procurement contract,
the list of documents to be provided by suppliers and other tender documents are provided to every
organisation that wishes to bid, irrespective of its form of ownership, for a fee, charged according to
the tariffs established by the Republican Commission.
Pursuant to clause 10 of the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 397, the Law of the
Republic of Uzbekistan "On State Procurements"  has been drafted.
(m) Regulation of trade in transit
Transit goods should be declared  to the customs authorities of Uzbekistan upon arrival, and
after release they may be moved within the customs territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan only
along the routes determined by the customs bodies. No duties or taxes are charged in respect of transit
goods.
When goods are classified as "transit," they must remain in an unchanged condition, except of
a natural depreciation and must not be used for any economic purposes. Such goods must be
transported to the point of their customs destination, along the routes established by the customs
service of Uzbekistan.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 51
If the goods have not been presented to the customs service of Uzbekistan when released, the
carrier will be responsible for the payment of all duties and taxes accrued  because of the goods
release in a free circulation (and a possible imposition of an administrative penalty on the carrier),
unless it has been proved that the goods were imported, or destroyed, or lost due to an accident or a
force major.
Annex 6 to the Presidential Decree No. UP-1871 of 10 October 1997 "On Additional
Measures to Encourage the Export of Goods (Work and Services)" specifies the list of goods
prohibited for transit through the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan (See Section 2 of the this Part
IV). However, the transit of prohibited goods may be undertaken with a permission of MFER and on
approval of the  Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic  of Uzbekistan. Pursuant to the Resolution of the
Cabinet of Ministers No 213 of 15 May 1998, the ethylic alcohol is prohibited for transit through the
customs territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
In respect of goods subject to excise which are moved through the customs territory of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, the customs payment should be made onto a deposit account of the State
Customs Committee. When such goods are taken from the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the
payment made is returned to the payer. The transit of alcohol and tobacco should have a customs
escort through the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the payment of ECU 200.
4. Policies affecting the foreign trade in agricultural goods
(a) Imports, including a detailed description of cross-border restrictive measures:  customs duties
and/or any other such restrictive measures
The importation of agricultural products is not licensed.  The enterprises that want to import
foreign agricultural goods to Uzbekistan for the purpose of sale must be registered as participants of
foreign economic activities by MFER on the same grounds as the importers of other goods (SeeSection 2.c of Part II and Section 1 of this Part IV).
As it is pointed out in Annex 5 to this Memorandum, a broad range of agricultural goods and
foodstuffs specified in the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 409 of 12 August 1994 "On Approval
of the List of Goods Subject to the Compulsory Certification, Procedures of Certification and
Carrying Goods that Need Certification of Their Safety into the Territory of the Republic ofUzbekistan and out of It" may be allowed by the customs bodies for importation to Uzbekistan only
upon a presentation of the certificate issued by an authorised body to confirm the conformity of the
goods with applicable standards or technological  requirements. Imported food and agricultural goods
are subject to import duties, at the rate of 3 to 30  per cent.
(b) Exports, including a detailed description, budgetary expenditure and any privileges in respect
of all export subsidy measures
As noted in Section 2.f of this Part IV, Uzbekistan extends some privileges and tax
exemptions for manufacturing enterprises with the foreign investment which export goods of their
own production.
Exportation of some agricultural goods is made through the state and joint-stock companies
described in Annex 6 to this Memorandum.
(c) Export prohibitions and restrictions
See description in Section 2.c of this Part IV.
(d) Export credits, export credit guarantees or insurance programmesWT/ACC/UZB/2
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See section 2.f of this Part IV.
(e) Domestic policies, including a description, budgetary expenditure and any revenue foregone
involved in each of the domestic support measures
The main aim of  governmental policies in agriculture is to ensure the stability and growth of
agricultural supplies to the domestic market. Pursuant to its policy, Government is undertaking a
diversification of agricultural production. However, the Government has no intention of providing adirect financial support to the agricultural sector.  The policy of reforms in the agricultural sector is
aimed at eliminating in the near future the payment to enterprises of this sector and farmers  that is
made within the framework of th e direct state financial support.
5. Policies affecting foreign trade in other sectors
(a) Textiles regime
Imported textile goods are subject to customs duties, at the rate of 3 to 30  per cent.
Textile companies of the Republic of Uzbekistan process 150,000 tons of raw cotton and
produce 124,200 tons of yarn, 550 million meters of  fabrics and non-woven materials, medicinal and
special types of cotton wool. They also make silk threads, fabrics and a wide range of clothing and
carpets.
The Republic of Uzbekistan and the European Union initialled the Agreement on Trade in
Textile Goods and Clothing (the "EU Textile Agreement") on June 9, 1993 that introduced a quota fortextile goods originating in Uzbekistan and intended for export to the EU. The Agreement was
effective from 1993 to 1995. Pursuant to this Agreem ent, the EU instituted  a quota for the trade in
cotton fabrics with Uzbekistan. This quota was 2,861 tons in 1995. This quota limited the export
opportunities of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
In December 1995, a new Agreement was signed providing the following quotas for textile to
Uzbekistan: in 1996 - 6,400 tons; in 1997 - 6,624 tons; in 1998 - 6,856 tons; in 1999 - 7,096 tons.
The contracts for the export of textile goods to the EU that are subject to quotas pursuant to
the Agreement in Trade in Textile and Clothing with the EU countries must be registered by MFER,
as required by the Cabinet of Ministers  Resolution No. 343 of 28 August 1995. The period of validity
of the Agreement in Trade in Textile and Clothing with the EU countries expires on31 December 1998 (the Agreement will be extended by 31 December 1999).
(b) Policies affecting the foreign trade in other major sectors
The Republic of Uzbekistan pursues the poli cy of export promotion which, on the whole,
affects the foreign trade. The main goods which this policy is focused on are oil, consumer goods.
V. TRADE-RELATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY REGIME
1. General
(a) Intellectual property policy
Since the country's independence the Government  of the Republic of Uzbekistan has pursued
a policy of establishing an intellectual property protection regime that is modelled on the systems of
countries with developed market economies. To th at end, the Republic of Uzbekistan has addedWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 53
provisions on the protection of intellectual property to the Civil Code and has enacted normative acts
regulating its intellectual property regime.
The process of transforming the state intellectual property system into a private system has
nearly been completed in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Republic of Uzbekistan is also developing
and tailoring its national legislation in order to prepare for accession to the major international
intellectual property conventions. Among the Govern ment's top priorities is the protection of the
rights of foreign nationals, Uzbek citizens and stateless persons in compliance with norms observed
by the world community.
As a general rule, the Uzbek system of enforcement of intellectual property rights is divided
into three sub-systems:
− the establishment of a legal basis for the protection of intellectual property rights;
− the establishment of a sub-system of enforcement agencies within the executive
authority to ensure the protection of intellectual property rights; and
− the establishment of a sub-system for judicial protection of intellectual property rights.
The fundamental bases, required for the establishment of an effective system of protection of
intellectual property rights are found in the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan: Article 11
(separation of powers), Article 23 (safeguards for the rights and liberties of foreign nationals and
stateless persons), Article 36 (property rights), Article 42 (freedom of scientific and technical
creation), Article 44 (legal protection of rights and liberties), and Article 53 (guarantees of the
inviolability of property) and also in appropriate international agreements.
At present, protection for almost all objects of intellectual property has been established in the
Republic of Uzbekistan.
(b) Agencies responsible for the development of the intellectual property rights policy and its
implementation (competent bodies)
Responsibility for policy-making and the enforcement of intellectual property rights
protection in the Republic of Uzbekistan is divided between two governmental agencies.
The Uzbek Agency for Copyright under the Cabinet of Ministers provides protection for
copyright and related rights. The State Patent Agency of the State Committee for Science and
Technology of the Republic of Uzbekistan is responsible for the protection of patent rights and rights
to inventions, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, geographical indications of origin,
selection achievements, computer software and databases.
In addition, the State Anti-Monopoly Organisation is responsible for drafting and proposing
laws prohibiting unfair competition including the unauthorised use of trademarks, packaging,
undisclosed and confidential business information and also prevention of new participants from
entering the markets for goods and services.
The State Customs Committee being, in accordance with the applicable legislation, a legal
protection agency, participates in the customs policy development and its realisation, provides
observance of the customs legislation, takes arrangements on the protection of legal entities and
physical persons rights and interests, stops illegal transference of objects of artistic, historical,
archaeological property of the peoples of the Republic of Uzbekistan, objects of intellectual property,
animals breeds and varieties of plants, which are under the threat of disappearance through theWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 54
customs border of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and also carries out the other functions, pursuant to its
main tasks.
(c) Membership in international intellectual property conventions.
In May 1993 the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed a Declaration indicating the
Republic's intention to join the Convention on the Foundation of the World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO), the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, and the PatentCo-operation Treaty (PCT). On 18 August 1993 WIPO  confirmed that the Republic of Uzbekistan had
been granted membership of these conventions. The Republic of Uzbekistan is also a member of the
Madrid Treaty on International Registration of Trademarks.
Currently, the Government is considering whether to join the Budapest Treaty on
International Recognition of Depositing Micro-organisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedures, the
Strasbourg Convention on International Pate nt Qualification, and the Nice Convention on
International Qualification of Goods and Services for Registration of Marks.  Moreover, the Republicof Uzbekistan intends to sign the Protocol to the Madrid Treaty on International  registration of marks
and plans to join the Convention on the Protection of New Varieties of Plants administered by the
International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), and the Treaty on
Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits (the Washington Treaty).
The Republic of Uzbekistan has signed the Intergovernmental Agreement on co-operation in
suppressing violations of law in the field of intellectual property on the territory of the states -
participants of CIS and  has entered into bilateral agreements providing for protection and co-operation
in the field of industrial property with the Russian Federation (27 June 1995), the Republic of Georgia
(28 May 1996), the Kyrgyz Republic (24 December 1996),  the Republic of Kazakhstan (2 June 1997),
the Republic of Azerbaijan (18 June 1997), and for co-operation in the field of intellectual propertyprotection with the Ukraine (19 February 1998), and also with the Republic of Turkey (13 April 1998)
(d) Application of national and MFN treatment to foreign nationals.
The generally the policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan lies in granting within its territory the
same rights enjoyed by the citizens of the Republic to foreign nationals, stateless persons, and foreign
legal entities. There are specific national treatment provisions in the Civil Code (Section IV,Article 7); in the law "On Inventions, Utility Models  and Industrial Designs" (Article 42); the law "On
Trademarks and Service Marks" (Article 33); the law "On Legal Protection of Computer Programs
and Databases" (Article 9); and the law "On Plant Varieties Protection" (Article 2).
However, there are a few exceptions to the general "national treatment" policy.  First, foreign
persons, foreign entities and stateless persons must conduct registration and other legally significantactivity through registered local patent attorneys.  Second, foreign persons, foreign entities and
stateless persons are charged higher dues and registration fees for objects of intellectual property than
those imposed on CIS nationals and entities. Third, lower dues and registration fees are applied to
certain categories of Uzbek citizens (namely, veterans of the Second World War, students and
invalids).
3
Pursuant to the Law, adopted by the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On foreign
Investments", specifying the legal basis and the order of attracting and rational use on the territory ofthe Republic of Uzbekistan of foreign financial, material and intellectual resources, modern
technologies and managerial experience, all kinds of material and non-material goods and all rights to
                                                     
___________________________
3 Other dues and registration fees are being worked out in accordance with the TRIPS Agreement.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 55
them, including rights to intellectual property are recognised as foreign investments(Article 3).
Royalty, license and other fees and payments, made by foreign investors as reinvestments in the
objects of business and other types of activity are also recognised as foreign investments. Parallel with
the other forms of effecting foreign investments, foreign investors may effect investments  through
acquiring  the rights to intellectual property, including copyrights, inventions, utility models and
industrial designs, trademarks, brand names and know-how, and also good-will (Article 5). Inaccordance with Article 9 the State under its investment activity ensures and protects all rights and
interests of investors. The investors on their own ma y decide to patent abroad and in the Republic of
Uzbekistan inventions, utility models and industria l designs, belonging to them, which result from the
investment activity in the Republic (Article 10). The legal protection and use of objects of intellectual
property by enterprises, based on foreign investments, is governed by the national legislation
(Article 12).
In accordance with  the Law "On guarantees and measures of foreign investors rights
protection", the foreign investments and other assets of foreign investors are not subject to
nationalisation and requisition (Article 5), use and transfer of fund (Articles 6 and 7), and also
reimbursement of foreign investments in connection with termination of the investment activity is
guaranteed (Article 8).
(e) Fees and taxes.
Registration and maintenance charges are impos ed for applications; for examinations of
patents, utility models, industrial designs, selection achievements, and trademarks; and for registration
extensions for industrial designs, utility models, selection achievements and trademarks.  Charges are
also imposed for registration of computer software and databases.  These charges are summarised in
the following tables:
Table V-1:  Fees for Patenting Inventions and Industrial
Designs and for Certifying Utility Models
Name of Action or Procedure Fees For Citizens
(in minimum monthly
salaries)Fees For Foreigners
(in US$)
Filing an application for an invention, industrialdesign or utility model0.5 300
Preliminary expert examination  of a patent
application for an invention or industrial design1.0 300
Required expert examination of a patent application
for an invention or an industrial design1.5 900
Registration, publication and issuance of a patent or
preliminary patent for an invention or industrial
design, or a certificate for a utility model2.0 1,200
Filing with the Appeals Council an objection to a
decision rejecting an application for a preliminary
patent or certificate when such rejection occurred
during formal expert examination0.5 300
Filing with the Appeals Council an objection to a
decision rejecting an application for a patent or
certificate when such rejection occurred during thegeneral expert examination of an application1.0 600WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 56
Name of Action or Procedure Fees For Citizens
(in minimum monthly
salaries)Fees For Foreigners
(in US$)
Filing with the Appeals Council an objection to theissuance of a patent, preliminary patent or
certificate1.0 600
Fee for registering a licensing agreement 1.0 300
Fee for registering an agreement on the transfer of a
patent, preliminary patent or certificate1.5 450
Table  V-2:  Fees for Registration of Trade Marks and Service Marks
Name of Actions and Procedures Fees For citizens
(in minimum
monthly salaries)Fees For Foreigners
(in US$)
Filing an application for a trade mark or servicemark and the expert examination of such an
application1.0 600
Filing with the Appeals Council an objection to a
decision rejecting a trade mark or service mark
registration application1.0 600
Registration, publication and issuance of a mark
certificate1.0 600
Registration of licensing agreement 1.0 300
Registration of an agreement on the transfer of a
mark0.75 225
Table V-3:  Maintenance Fees for an Invention Patent
Years (from the date of registration) Fees For Citizens
(in minimum monthly
salaries)Fees For Foreigners
(in US$)
1-3 1.0 600
4-7 2.0 1200
8-11 3.0 1800WT/ACC/UZB/2
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Table V-4:  Maintenance Fees for an Industrial Design Patent
Years (from the date of registration) Fees For Citizens
(in minimum monthly
salaries)Fees For Foreigners
(in US$)
3 0.5 300
4-7 (annually) 0.75 450
8-10 (annually) 1.0 600
Table V-5:  Maintenance Fees for a Preliminary Patent for an Invention or Industrial Design, or
Preliminary Certificate for a Utility Model Certificate
Years (from the date of
registration)Fees For Citizens
(in minimum monthly salaries)Fees For Foreigners
(in US$)
1 1.0 600
2 1.0 600
3 1.0 600
4 1.0 600
5 1.0 600
Table V-6:  Fees for Official Registration of Software and Database
and Agreements on Transfer of Property Rights
Name of Actions and Procedures Fees For Citizens
(in minimum monthly
salaries)Fees For Foreigners
(in US$)
Filing an application for the official registrationof software or a database0.5 60
Registration, publication and issuance of a
certificate of registration for software or
database1.0 120
Registration of an agreement transferring all
property rights to registered software or database1.5 180
Registration of an agreement transferring
property rights to software and database1.0 120
The Tax Code contains provisions governing the taxation of the income from the use of
objects of industrial property. Under Articles 31 and 58  of the Tax Code, both the income of patent-
holders/licensors and that of patent licensees derived  from the use of industrial property are exempt
from taxation for variable periods of time:
Patent on an Invention or Selection Achievement: 5 years
Preliminary Patent on an Invention or certificate Selection Achievement: 3 years
Patent on Industrial Design: 3 years
Preliminary Patent on Industrial Design: 2 yearsCertificate for Utility Model (licensee): 2 years
Certificate for a trademark (licensee): 1 yearWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 58
Upon the expiration of these tax holidays, the conc erned income is subject to the normal rules
of taxation.  Pursuant to  Article 19 of the Tax Code, expenses for acquisition of intellectual property
are subject to deduction from the aggregate income during the following period as amortisation.
In addition to the foregoing tax exemptions, patent duties, registration fees and licensing
payments for acquiring rights in or to intellectual property are exempt from value-added tax
(Article 71 of the Tax Code).
2. Substantive standards of protection, includi ng procedures for the acquisition and
maintenance of intellectual property rights.
General standards of protection of intellectual property rights are set forth in Section IV
(Articles 1031-1111) of the Civil Code, which was adopted on 29 August1996 and became effective
on 1 March 1997.
Article 1031 of the Civil Code defines "intellectual property" in compliance with
Article 2(viii) of the Convention on the Foundation of the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
Articles 1031-1040 set out general civil norms regulating the creation, transfer, assignment, terms,
and means of protection of intellectual property exclusive rights.  Pursuant to these articles,
intellectual property rights arise from the creation of works of science, literature, art, inventions and
other results of intellectual activity.  Under Article 11 of the Civil Code, intellectual property rights
may be enforced through acknowledgement of  the owner's right, restoration of the status quo , self-
protection initiated by the owner, indemnification, and/or termination or alteration of the infringer's
rights.
Articles 1041-1081 of the Civil Code generally provide for a copyright and neighbouring
rights regime in the Republic of Uzbekistan.  Article 1042 provides that literary, musical, audio and
visual works, paintings, sculptures, architectural works, computer software and other works areobjects of copyright and neighbouring rights.  Articles 1046 and 1052 recognise the exclusive right of
a citizen to the objectively-expressed results of his intellectual effort, performed works, or services
provided.
Articles 1082-1090 cover rights to industrial property (inventions, utility models and
industrial designs). According to these articles, rights to objects of industrial property are protected bypatents.  The right to exploit an invention, utility model or industrial design belongs to the patent-
holder or his legal successor.
Articles 1091-1094 provide rights in or to new plant varieties and new animal breeds
("selectionist " rights).
Articles 1095-1097 provide legal protection fo r undisclosed commercial information and
know-how. Under these articles, there is a right pr otecting undisclosed information against illegal use,
without the observance of any formalities.  Any person or entity that illegally disseminates
undisclosed information is obliged to indemnify the owner for the actual losses resulting from such
disclosure.
Articles 1098-1101 set out rules for the protection of firm names.  Articles 1102-1107 provide
for the protection of trademarks and service marks. Articles 1108-1111 set forth rules for the
protection of appellations of origin. These articles of the Civil Code contain common principles with
respect to the rights of an economic participant to the means used to individualise his goods, works or
services.  Provisions of these articles are to be further developed in specific laws. (At present, the law
"On Trademarks and Service Marks" has been adopted and enacted).WT/ACC/UZB/2
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In summary, the foregoing provisions of the Civil Code reflect the general policies pursued by
the Republic of Uzbekistan in the area of intellectual property protection.
Finally, additional protection of intellectual property rights is also provided in the law "On
Competition and Restriction of Monopolistic Activities in the Market for Goods."  Article 8 prohibits
"unfair competition," which includes the unauthorised exploitation of trademarks, brand names or
specific markings of goods or the unauthorised duplication of the form, packaging or other externalappearance of goods.
(a) Copyright and related rights, including rights of performers, producers of phonograms and
broadcasting organisations.
The law "On Copyright and Neighbouring Rights" governs standards of protection,
acquisition procedures and maintenance procedures for copyrights and neighbouring rights.
Under Article 5 of that law, rights of copyright apply to works of science, literature and art
which arise as a result of creative effort, regardless of their purpose, value or means of expression.Copyright does not extend to ideas, concepts, principles, systems, proposed decisions, or to the
discovery of objectively existing phenomena. There are no mandatory acquisition or maintenance
procedures for rights of copyright. Copyright arises by virtue of the creation of an original work,
without any formalities (procedures).  Article 16 provides that a voluntary notice of copyright is
permitted.  Article 38 provides that copyright in a work is valid for the life of the author of the workplus 50 years.
Article 47 provides that neighbouring rights attach to performances, productions, audio and
video recordings of a performer, and broadcasts of broadcasting and cable communications
organisations.  There are no formal acquisition or maintenance procedures. However, Article 49
provides that a voluntary notice of neighbouring rights is permitted.  Articles 51, 56 and 58 providethat the term of protection for performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organisations is
50 years.
(b) Trademarks, including service marks.
Substantive standards for the protection of trademarks and service marks are based closely on
strict observance and in accordance with  the requirements of Article 15(1) of the TRIPS Agreement.
Under Article 4 of the law "On Trademarks and Service Marks," in order to qualify for protection, a
designation must serve to distinguish goods and services of physical and legal entities from similar
goods and services of other physical and legal entities. Literary, graphic, volumetric or other markings
and combinations thereof may be registered as trademarks, and trademarks may be registered in any
colour or combination of colours.
Acquisition procedures for trademarks and service marks are set out in the law "On
Trademarks and Service Marks."  According to Article 3 of this law, protection of a trademark,
service mark or collective mark arises on the basis of registration with the Patent Agency and the
issuance of a registration certificate.  Article 8 of the law requires that a registration application must
relate only to one claimed mark and must include identifying information about the applicant, a
sample of the claimed designation together with a written description thereof, and a list of the goods
or services for which registration is requested, designated according to classes under the InternationalClassification of Goods and Services for Registration of Marks. The application must also include a
certification of payment of the required fees, and, if the application is submitted through a patent
attorney, a document certifying the attorney's authorisation to act on the applicant's behalf.WT/ACC/UZB/2
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For collective marks, there are additional requirements for acquisition of trademark
protection. In addition to the requirements set out above, Article 9 specifies that an application for a
collective mark must also contain the name of the association authorising the registration of the
collective mark in its name, the purpose of registration of the mark, the list of subjects entitled to use
this mark, the list, uniform quality or other common features of the goods which will be designated by
the collective mark, the conditions on the use of the collective mark, and the manner in which themark will be monitored.
Certain types of marks are not subject to registration and therefore are not eligible for
protection. These include non-distinctive marks, marks which comprise official symbols and names,
certain geographic names, and generic names. Commonly-used symbols, terms or designations of the
type, quality, properties, purpose, or value of the goods, or the place and time of production and
distribution are also ineligible for protection, alt hough they may be included in a trademark as non-
protected elements.  Article 5 of the law states that falsified or misleading marks, and markscontradicting public interests, principles of humanity or morals may not be registered either as marks
or as elements of marks.  Furthermore, firm/trade designations are not subject to registration if they
are identical or confusingly similar to marks or certification signs previously registered or filed in
Uzbekistan for identical goods.  Finally, Article 6 of the law establishes that designations may not be
registered, if they reproduce well-known trade names for identical goods, industrial designs, well-known names of works of science, literature or art, or surnames, names, pseudonyms or facsimiles of
famous persons.
Upon receipt of an application for registration, the Patent Office examines the application for
compliance with the formal requirements of Article 6 of the Paris Convention and the provisions of
Articles 4-8 of the Law "On Trade Marks and Serv ice Marks". The Patent Office also establishes a
priority date for the application.  A claimed mark complying with all applicable conditions is entered
into the State Register, and officially published.  The registration certificate for a trademark is issued
after the publication of information on the registration of a trademark.  The registration certificate
confirms the registration of the claimed mark as well as the exclusive right of its owner to use it.  The
original certificate of registration is effective for ten years from the priority date, but may be extendedindefinitely for ten-year periods.
The trademark law does not provide for protection of marks which have been used in
commerce without registration with the Patent Agency.  However, the Civil Code provides that any
economic entity using a non-registered mark on a regular basis for five years shall be granted the
ownership right to the mark in accordance with general civil normative acts (Civil Code, Articles 81,97, 169 and 187, paragraph 1).
Article 19 of the law "On Trademarks and Service Marks" requires that marks must be
maintained through use, including affixation to goods and packaging of goods, trading licenses,
advertising, on the masks, display of samples, and use at exhibitions and fairs. Non-use of a trademark
for five years from the date of registration may lead to premature cancellation of the registration
certificate. However, termination for non-use may be overturned by the mark-holder upon a showing
that the non-use was due to circumstances beyond his control.
(c) Geographical indications, including appellations of origin.
At present, the law on geographical indications and appellations of origin is still being
developed in the Republic of Uzbekistan.   Section IV of the Civil Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan
provides general guidelines for the protection of appellations of origin (Articles 1108-1111).
Article 1108 requires that an appellation of origin be registered with the Patent Agency in order toreceive protection. Based on the general norms in the Civil Code, the Patent Agency is now
developing a draft law that will cover appellations of origin in detail.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 61
Despite the lack of specific legislation on geographical indications and appellations of origin,
the owners of such objects who license or transfer their rights by contract may, to a certain extent,protect their rights by including in the contract a provision designating the substantive law that shall
be used in settling any disputes.  Such protection is provided for by Section VI of the Civil Code
("Application of Norms of International Private Law to Civil Law Relations") in accordance with
Articles 1179 and 1180.
(d) Industrial designs.
Industrial designs are protected in the Republic of Uzbekistan within the framework of
industrial property law.  The law "On Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs" of
6 May 1994 complies with the substantive provisions of the Paris Convention.
Under Article 7 of this law, industrial designs may be protected, if they are new, original and
capable of industrial application. Designs are not recognised as new or original, if they do notsubstantially differ from existing well-known designs or combinations of their essential features.
Furthermore, solutions aimed exclusively at a technical function of an item are not protectable.  Theexternal design of a product constituting its appearance qualifies as an industrial design.
Legal protection for an industrial design is acquired through proper application to the Patent
Agency.  Under Article 17 of this law, an application must relate to a single industrial design, or to
versions of a single design which are linked by a common creative idea.  An application must contain
a request for a patent or preliminary patent, a reference to the author and to the person in whose name
the patent or preliminary patent is requested, the address or location of such author and person, a set
of photographs depicting the item, or a model or drawing which provides a detailed image of the
external appearance of the item, a map of a general view of the item, its ergonomic scheme, and a
layout map, if such are necessary to disclose the essence of the industrial design, and a description ofthe industrial design that embraces the totality of its essential features.
Under Article 3, an applicant, at his discretion, may obtain protection without an in-depth
examination.  In such a case, the Patent Agency issues a preliminary patent and makes an appropriate
official publication.  The owner's exclusive right to the claimed object arises from the date of officialpublication.  The Patent Agency issues the preliminary patent on a claimed object three months after
the date of the official publication of information on the preliminary patent, if by the time being there
have been no third-party appeals or protests against the issuance of a preliminary patent.  Preliminary
patents are issued without any guarantee of their validity.  Thus, the preliminary patent is in force, but
it does not have guaranteed validity.
Under Articles 3, 14, 15, 19 and 21, the applicant may obtain protection for a claimed object
upon completion of in-depth examination.  In this ca se, if the examination has a positive result, the
Patent Agency grants the patent and makes the appropriate official publication.  The owner's exclusive
rights to the claimed object arise from the date of official publication.  The Patent Agency grants thepreliminary patent on a claimed object three mont hs after the date of official publication of
information on the preliminary patent if by the time being there have been no third-party appeals or
protests filed against the issuance of the preliminary patent. Validity of the patent granted under this
procedure is presumed (Article 3, paragraph 7).
A patent on an industrial design is valid for ten years, with possible extensions available for
additional five years (Article 3, paragraphs 10 and 12).  A preliminary patent on an industrial design is
valid for five years, with possible extensions available for additional five years.
Patents and preliminary patents are maintained by the payment of annual fees (Article 26).
However, there are circumstances under which a patent may lapse before the end  of the normal term.WT/ACC/UZB/2
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The premature cancellation or termination of a patent or preliminary patent by reason of invalidity
may be effected on the basis of a third-party appeal filed with the Appeals Council of the Patent
Agency.  The decision of the Appeals Council may be appealed in the Supreme Court.  A patent or
preliminary patent may also be suspended or terminated prematurely by reason of non-payment of
maintenance fees or on the basis of an application submitted to the Patent Agency by the patent holder
(Article 28).
(e) Patents.
Substantive standards of protection, as well as acquisition and maintenance procedures for
patents, are governed by the law "On Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs."  That law is
in compliance with the general principles of the Paris Convention.
An invention is granted legal protection, if it is new, demonstrates a level of inventiveness,
and is capable of industrial application (Article 5).
The following are recognised as inventions:  devices, methods, substances, strains of micro-
organisms, cells of plants and animals, and applications of previously-known devices, methods,
substances and strains of micro-organisms in a new way.
Under the Law "On Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs" or any other law  the
following are not recognised as inventions:  scientific theories and mathematical methods, economic
and management organisational methods, conventional signs, schedules, rules, methods of executionof mental operations, algorithms and computer pr ograms, construction designs, layouts and schemes,
buildings, facilities,  objects of design,  plant varieties, animal breeds,  integrated circuit topologies,
and designs which undermine the public interest or principles of humanity and morality.
The Law "On Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs" does not recognise and does
not provide protection within the framework of ot her appropriate laws for algorithms and computer
programs, construction designs, layouts and schemes of buildings, facilities, territories; objects of
design; integrated circuit topologies; plant varieties and animal breeds.
The law contains no limitations related to the place of creation or the technological field of
the invention.
Patent protection is acquired by a proper application to the Patent Agency.  The application
should relate to a single invention or to a group of inventions that are associated by a single inventive
idea (Article 15).
Under Article 3, an applicant, at his discretion, may obtain protection without in-depth
examination of the invention.  In such a case, the Patent Agency issues a preliminary patent and
makes an appropriate official publication.  The owner's exclusive right to the claimed object arisesfrom the date of official publication.  The Patent Agency issues the preliminary patent three months
after the date of official publication of information on the preliminary patent if during this time there
have been no third-party appeals or protests against the issuance of the preliminary patent.
Preliminary patents are issued without any guarantee of their validity.  Thus, the preliminary patent is
in force, but it does not have guaranteed validity.
Under Articles 3, 14, 15, 19 and 20, the applicant may obtain protection for his invention
upon completion of in-depth examination.  In this ca se, if the examination has a positive result, the
Patent Agency grants the patent, and makes the appropriate official publication.  The owner's
exclusive rights to the claimed object arise from the date of official publication.  The Patent Agency
grants the patent on a claimed object three months after the date of official publication of informationWT/ACC/UZB/2
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if there have been no third-party appeals or protests filed against the issuance of the patent.  Validity
of the patent granted under this procedure is presumed (Article 3, paragraph 7).
A patent on an invention is valid for 20 years from the filing of the patent application
(Article 3).  A preliminary patent is valid for five years with no  extensions possible.  The right to
exploit an invention belongs exclusively to the pate nt-holder (Article 11) or to the patent-holder's
licensee on the basis of a license agreement (Article 31).
Patents and preliminary patents on inventions are maintained by the payment of annual fees
(Article 26).  However, there are circumstances under which a patent on an invention may lapse
before the end  of the normal term.  Premature cancellation or termination of the patent or preliminary
patent on the basis of invalidity may  in the whole volume or partly be effected on the basis of a third-
party appeal filed with the Appeals Council of the Patent Agency.  The decision of the Appeals
Council may be appealed in the Supreme Court.  A patent or preliminary patent may also lapse
prematurely by reason of non-payment of maintenance fees or on the basis of an application submitted
to the Patent Agency by the patent holder (Article 28).
(i) Utility models protection.
Substantive standards of protection, as well as acquisition and maintenance procedures for
utility models, are governed by the law "On Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs."  That
law is in compliance with the general principles of the Paris Convention.
Utility model protection is certified by a patent. The object, claimed as a utility model is
granted legal protection, if it is new and capable of industrial application.
Constructive fulfilment of means of production and articles of consumption and also their
component parts are recognised as utility models. Methods, substances, strains of micro-organisms,
cells of plants and animals, their application in a different way, and also the objects specified inSection 2 are granted legal protection as utility models.
Patent protection is acquired by a proper application to the Patent Agency.  The application
should relate to a single utility model or to a group of utility models that are associated by a single
inventive idea.
A utility model application must contain a request for a patent, a reference to the author and
to the person in whose name the patent is requested, the address or location of such author and person,
the description and formula of the utility model, drawings and summary. The document confirming
payment of required fees shall be attached to the application, and if the application is filed through a
patent attorney, a document certifying the attorney's authorisation to act on the applicant's behalf shall
also be attached to the application.
An applicant is entitled to transform the application for utility model into application for
invention and vice versa before a decision on issuance of a patent or a certificate is made. Under the
specified requirements the priority of the first application is retained.
Under Articles 3, 14, 16, 19, 20 the patent on a utility model is issued by the Patent Office, if
the claimed object is new and capable of industrial application, that is specified by materials of the
applicant and the patent documentation of the Republic of Uzbekistan. If the examination has positive
result The Patent Office makes the appropriate official publication.
The owner's exclusive rights to the claimed object arise from the date of official publication.
The Patent Agency grants the patent on the utility model three months after the date of officialWT/ACC/UZB/2
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publication of information if during this time there have been no third-party appeals or protests filed
against the issuance of the patent on the utility model.
A patent on a utility model is valid for five years from the date of filing with the right of
extension for additional three years (Article 3).
The right to exploit a utility model belongs exclusively to the patent-holder (Article 11) or to
the patent-holder's licensee on the basis of a license agreement (Article 31).
Patents on a utility model are maintained by the payment of annual fees (Article 26).
However, there are circumstances under which a patent on a utility model may lapse before the end
of the normal term.  Premature cancellation or termination of the patent on the basis of invalidity may
in the whole volume or partly be effected on the basis of a third-party appeal filed with the Appeals
Council of the Patent Agency.  The decision of the Appeals Council may be appealed in the Supreme
Court.. A patent may also lapse pr ematurely by reason of non-payment of maintenance fees or on the
basis of an application submitted to the Patent Agency by the patent holder (Article 28).
(f) Plant variety and animal breeds protection.
New plant varieties and new animal breeds are protected under the law "On Selection
Achievements."  The law was drafted to comply w ith the provisions of "International Convention on
Plant Varieties Protection". Under the law, the Patent Agency, which performs judicial functions, and
specialised divisions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, which perform expertisingfunctions, are responsible for enforcing protections granted to new plant varieties and new animal
breeds.
Under the law, rights in selection achievements attach to selection achievements that are new,
distinctive, homogeneous and stable (Article 7). A patent or certificate is granted for a new plant
variety or animal breed meeting those three criteria (Article 13). Selection achievements are deemedto be "new", if the selectionist has not sold or re-sold seeds, plant material or pedigree material to
other persons for one year before the priority date within the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
for four years before the priority date within the territory of any other state; or for six years for grapes,
wood, ornamental material, fruit cultures and wood species (Article 8).  A selection achievement is
deemed to be "distinctive", if it obviously differs from any other well-known breeding achievement asof the priority date (Article 9). A selection achievement is considered "homogeneous", if it is
sufficiently uniform, taking into account permissible deviations which may occur in the reproductive
process (Article 10). A selection achievement is deemed to be "stable", if its main characteristics are
left unchanged after repeated reproduction (Article 11).
Rights in selection achievements are acquired through the submission of a proper application
to the Patent Agency (Article 15).  The application must relate to a single selection achievement.  The
application must include: an application for a certificate or patent, the name of the selectionist and of
the person under whose name the patent or certificate is claimed,  information on the applicant's
location, a proposal with the name of the selection achievement, a description of the technical
characteristics of the species and breed, photos of samples, documents on the applicant's testing of the
species and breed, the applicant's declaration confirming that the selection achievement has not been
used or sold and that it complies with novelty requirements, documents confirming the priority (ifnecessary), a commitment by the applicant to present material for testing species and breeds to a
specialised organisation at the appropriate time, a proxy (in the case of an application filed through an
agent or patent trustee), and a document confirming payment of the required duties or fees or
confirming the basis for an exemption or reduction of such duties and fees (Article 16).WT/ACC/UZB/2
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The Patent Agency  during two months formally examines the documents supporting the
application.  If the documents are found to meet applicable criteria, they are forwarded to aspecialised body for state testing on distinctiveness, homogeneity and stability (Articles 19,  21 and
22). The Patent Agency then grants temporary le gal protection to the claimed selection achievement
effective from the date of publication until the date of registration of the selection achievement in the
State Register (Article 20).
If the claimed selection achievement meets the criteria of protectability, the appropriate
specialised governmental body issues a certificate of its compliance.  Based on that statement, thePatent Agency grants the patent or the certificate, and makes an appropriate official publication.  The
owner's exclusive rights in the selection achievement arise upon the date of the publication of thedecision to grant the certificate or patent.  The patent or certificate is granted six months after the date
of official publication of the decision to grant a protection document, if there have been no third-party
appeals or protests against the granting of protection documents (Article 28).
Patents and certificates on selection achievements are valid for 20 years, with ten-year
extensions available; patents and certificates on grape varieties, decorative and fruit crops, andarboretum varieties are valid for 25 years (Article 13).  The right to exploit a selection achievement
belongs exclusively to the patent-holder or his/her legal successor (Articles 31, 39 and 40).
Patents and certificates are maintained through the payment of annual fees (Article 30).
However, premature cancellation or termination may occur on the basis of an appeal filed by anyinterested party with the Appeals Council of the Patent Agency, the decisions of which are decisions
of the first instance. In order to irrevocably cancel or withdraw a patent or certificate, it is necessary to
appeal against the decision of the Appeals Council to the Supreme Court, the decisions of which are
final (Articles 35, 36 and 37). Premature cancellation may also occur upon non-payment of requiredmaintenance fees (Article 36).
(g) Layout designs of integrated circuits
A draft of a law "On Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits" has been completed and
submitted to the Oliy Majlis for consideration.
(h) Requirements on undisclosed information, including trade secrets and test data
Undisclosed information is protected under Chapter 64 of the Civil Code.  Under Article 1095
of the Civil Code, information constituting a service or commercial secret is protected only, if it
possesses actual or potential commercial value by virtue of its confidentiality; if there is no legal wayto access the information; if the owner of the information has taken reasonable measures to protect its
secrecy.
Under Article 8 of the Law "On Competition and the Restriction of Monopolistic Activity in
the Market for Goods" the actions of economic entities directed to acquisition of advantages in
business through obtaining, using and disclosing scientific-research, industrial and trading
information, including commercial secrets are prohibited without consent of its owner.
(i) Any other categories of intellectual property.
Computer software and databases are protected pursuant to the law "On Legal Protection of
Computer Software and Databases" of  6 May 1994. Rights in such works accrue to the author by
virtue of creation, regardless of release, and independent of the purpose or merits of the software or
database (Article 3).  Acquisition of legal rights to a computer program or database requires noformalities (Article 4).  However, optional registration is available through the specially-createdWT/ACC/UZB/2
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Agency for the Protection of Computer Programs and Databases, a sub-agency of the Patent Agency
(Article 9). Where the author seeks voluntary registration, the Patent Agency makes the appropriate
publication of the software or database.
Firm names are also protected under the normative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Articles 44 and 46 of the Civil Code require state registration of legal entities, including firm names.
Article 46 of the Civil Code requires that legal entities have firm names and provides that a legalentity that is properly registered has an exclusive right to use its firm name.  Articles 1098-1101 of the
Civil Code regulate legal relations in connection with the firm names.
Scientific and technical achievements, reports on scientific and research, experimental and
engineering works, and similar objects will be prot ected under the law, currently in draft form, "On
Intellectual Property in the Republic of Uzbekistan," when passed by the Oliy Majlis .  It is also
anticipated that scientific and research works will be protected under the law "On Protection against
Unfair Competition," which is currently being drafted.
3. Measures to control abuse of intellectual property rights
Abuse of intellectual property rights is controlled in two ways: through the right to
compulsory licensing and through the right to prevent unfair competition. The concerned laws set
forth particular measures to control abuses.
The law "On Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs" requires that an invention,
utility model or industrial design be worked within three years of the date of the grant of the patent
(Article 11, paragraph 6). Where the industrial property is not worked within that time, any participant
in commerce may apply for a license or, if the owner of the industrial property refuses to issue a
license, the applicant may request a compulsory license.  The owner of the rights in the industrial
property may defeat the compulsory license applica tion by showing that the non-use or insufficient
use is supported by a valid reason.
The unfair competition section of the law "On Competition and the Restriction of
Monopolistic Activities in the Market for Goods" prohibits the unlawful use of objects of intellectual
property.  The law is enforced by the State Antimonopoly Organization (Article 17).
4. Enforcement
(a) Civil judicial procedures and remedies.
Remedies for copyright and neighbouring right infringement are set forth in the law "On
Copyright and Neighbouring Rights ."  Remedies for breach of a copyright agreement include
damages and indemnification for lost profits  (Article 43).  Remedies for copyright infringement
include damages and indemnification for lost profits or, at the plaintiff's discretion, resiliation of thedefendant's illegal profits (Article 46).  The law provides for general liability for breach of a contract
on neighbouring rights and for infringement of neighbouring rights (Article 61).  General liability is
understood to include damages and indemnification for lost profits.
Available remedies for trademark and service mark infringement include indemnification,
resiliation of illegal profits, injunctions prohibiting further illegal use of the mark, publication of the
court decision to rehabilitate the business reputation of the harmed party, removal of counterfeit
marks from the defendant's goods or packaging, and other remedies at the court's discretion (the law"On Trademarks and Service Marks," Articles 29 and 30). To obtain relief from infringement, the
owner of a trademark may turn to the appropriate government prosecutorial authorities in accordance
with Articles 23-29 of the law "On Procuracy." Wher e infringement has been established, the ownerWT/ACC/UZB/2
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of a trademark may file a suit with the appropriate judicial authorities under Article 10 of the Civil
Code.
With respect to geographical indications and appellations of origin, specific enforcement
remedies and procedures are under development (S ee Section 2.c of this Part V above).  However,
under Section IV of the Civil Code, entities authorised to use a particular designation, as well as
consumer protection organisations, may require an entity that is illegally using the designation tocease such use, to remove the designation from its goods, packaging, stationery and other documents,
and/or to destroy all items bearing the designation (including a designation that is so similar as to
likely cause confusion) (Civil Code Section IV, Article 1111).
Possible remedies for misuse of industrial designs and patents include indemnification,
injunctions against further misuse, publication of the court decision to rehabilitate the business
reputation of the harmed party, and other remedies at the court's discretion (the law "On Inventions,
Utility Models and Industrial Designs," Article 13).  Enforcement of rights in and to industrial designsand patents may be accomplished by applying to the appropriate prosecuting authorities pursuant to
Articles 23-29 of the law "On Procuracy."  Furthermor e, the owner of rights in an industrial design or
patent may file a suit with the proper judicial au thorities in accordance with Article 10 of the Civil
Code.
Available remedies for the infringement of rights in and to new plant varieties and new
animal breeds include indemnification, injunctions against further misuse, publication of the court
decision to rehabilitate the business reputation of the harmed party, and other remedies at the court's
discretion (Article 43 of the law "On Selection Achievements" and Articles 10 and 14 of the Civil
Code). Enforcement of selection achievement righ ts may also be obtained through the appropriate
prosecuting authorities pursuant to Articles 23 - 29 of the law "On Procuracy."
With respect to rights in integrated circuits, specific enforcement remedies and procedures are
contained in the draft law "On Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits," which will be submitted to the
Oliy Majlis .  (See Section 2 above).
Available remedies for the misuse of confidential information include indemnification by
parties who illegally access undisclosed information or who disclose it in breach of a contract (seegenerally Chapter 64 of the Civil Code).
Available remedies for infringement of copy rights on computer programs and databases
include a formal recognition by the infringer of the copyright holder's rights, restoration of the status
quo before the infringement, injunctions against further infringement, indemnification for lost profits,
direct damages and indirect damages, resiliation of illegal profits,  statutory damages, and seizure ofinfringing copies of computer programs or data bases (Article 14 of the law "On Legal Protection of
Computer Programs and Databases").  Compensation fo r moral harm is also possible. (the Civil Code,
Article 1021).  Enforcement is provided through th e court system pursuant to jurisdiction established
by the Civil Procedure Code.
(b) Provisional measures.
Provisional measures are currently being developed.
(c) Any administrative procedures and remedies.
The protection of rights under administrative procedures may only be pursued in cases
specifically provided by the law (Article 10 of the Civil Code).  Administrative decisions may be
contested in court.WT/ACC/UZB/2
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Specialised laws govern the availability of administrative procedures and remedies in given
cases.  Issues related to the examination of industrial property (patents on inventions, utility models
and industrial designs, and trademarks and service marks) are resolved through application to the
Patent Agency (see Articles 7-17 of the law "On Trademarks and Service Marks" and Articles 14-25
of the law "On Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs"). In accordance with Article 23 of
the law "On Protection of Consumer Rights," th e State Anti-Monopoly Organ, the Uzbek State Centre
for Standardisation, Metrology and Certification, the Ministry of Health, and other agencies
supervising implementation of consumer rights within  their jurisdiction are specifically authorised to
conduct administrative proceedings to resolve issues related to unfair competition, such as the
production and sale of goods unfit for normal use and the counterfeit labelling of food products and
beverages. The State Anti-Monopoly Organ is authorised to fine individuals, legal entities, state
bodies and officials, and commercial entities engaged in unfair competition (Article 18 of the law "On
Competition and Restriction on Monopolistic Activities in the Market for Goods").
(d) Any special border measures.
Special border measures related to intellectual property are set forth by the Customs Code of
the Republic of Uzbekistan (Article 9), according to which importation to the Republic of Uzbekistan
and exportation from the Republic of certain goods may be prohibited to provide  the property rights
including those for the objects of  intellectual property.
(e) Criminal procedures.
In general, the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan does not provide for criminal
remedies and procedures for the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
However, violation of copyrights and patent rights in accordance with article 149 of the Civil
Code is referred to crimes against constitutional rights and liberties of nationals. Violation ofauthorship rights, compulsion to joint authorship on the objects of intellectual property, disclosure of
information on these objects before their official registration or publication without the author’s
consent are subject to penalty, deprivation of a certain right, community service and imprisonment.
However, criminal sanctions are available in certain aggravated cases.  There are criminal
sanctions for ongoing and multiple violations of rights to the same object of intellectual property aswell as in cases where economic remedies have been exhausted.  In such cases, it is the plaintiff's
prerogative to file a suit against the infringer.  Furt hermore, violations of the rules of informatisation
are subject to criminal penalties, including fines,  community service and imprisonment for up to three
years (Article 174 of the Criminal Code).  informatisation violations include the unauthorised
accessing of an information network, the intended change, loss or extraction of information from sucha network, resulting in loss, and the design and unauthorised distribution of computer viruses and
programs, resulting in the distortion or destruction of information.
Moreover, there are criminal penalties for the collection of confidential scientific and
technical, production, economic or trade information or any other kind of similar information without
the consent of its owner.  Such violations are subject to fines, community service and imprisonment
for up to three years (Article 191 of the Criminal Code).  The discrediting of a competitor through the
dissemination of intentionally false, incorrect or di storted information about such competitor in order
to harm its business reputation may also be punished by fines, community service for up to three years
or imprisonment for up to six months (Article 192 of the Criminal Code).WT/ACC/UZB/2
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5. Laws, decrees, regulations and other legal acts relating to the above.
The basis of the Republic's intellectual property laws is set forth in Section IV of the Civil
Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which covers intellectual property rights. Section IV of the Civil
Code establishes general principles in compliance with the major international conventions on
copyrights and neighbouring rights, industrial property (inventions, utility models and industrial
designs), rights to new plant varieties and animal breeds, rights to confidential information (know-how), and rights to the individualisation of commercial participants (firm names, trademarks,
designations of the origin of goods). Principles of the Civil Code may be applied to those objects of
intellectual property for which no specific normative act has yet been adopted. The basic provisions of
the Civil Code are being further developed in other normative acts providing for protection of rights
to certain categories of objects of intellectual property.
The following is a list of the basic laws, decrees, regulations and other normative acts
affecting the protection of intellectual property rights:
1. Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Articles 11, 23, 36, 42, 44, and 53) adopted
on 8 December 1992;
2. Civil Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Parts I and II) of 29 August 1996, coming into
effect on 1 March 1997;
3. Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 22 September 1994;
4. Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 29 August 1997;
5. Labour Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 21 December 1995;
6. Code on Administrative Responsibility of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 22
September 1994;
7. Commercial Procedure Code of the Repub lic of Uzbekistan of 30 August 1997;
8. Customs Code of the Republic of Uzbeki stan, adopted on 26 December 1997 coming
into force on 1 March, 1998;
9. Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 26 December 1997, coming into force  on
1 March 1998;
10. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Tr ademarks and Service Marks" of 7 May 1993,
coming into effect on 2 June 1993 (with the following changes and additions of
26 December 1997).
11. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On informatisation"  of 7 May 1993, coming into
effect on 1 June 1993;
12. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Lega l Protection of Computer Software and Data
Bases" of 6 May 1994, coming into effect on 28 May 1994;
13. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial
Designs" of 6 May 1994, coming into effect on 1 June 1994 (with following changes and
additions of 26 December 1997);
14. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Selection Achievements" of 30 August 1996,
coming into effect on 11 September, 1996;
15. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Copyright and Neighbouring Rights" of
30 August 1996, coming into effect on 17 September 1996;
16. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Competition and Restriction of Monopolistic
Activities in the Market for Goods" of 27 December 1996;
17. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "O n Foreign Investments" of 30 April 1998;
18. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Guarantees and Measures of Protection of
Foreign Investors Rights" of 30 April 1998;
19. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On the Protection of Consumer Rights"  of
26 April 1996;
20. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Property in the Republic of Uzbekistan" of
31 October 1990 (with the following changes and additions);WT/ACC/UZB/2
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21. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Enterprises" of 15 February 1991 (with the
following changes and additions);
22. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Taxes from Enterprises, Associations and
Organisations" of 15 February 1991 (with the following changes and additions);
23. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Auditing" of 9 December 1992;
24. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Collateral" of 9 December 1992;
25. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On State Duties" of 9 December 1992;
26. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Procuracy" of 9 December 1992;
27. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Insurance" of 6 May 1993;
28. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Protection of State Secrets" of 7 May 1993;
29. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Courts" of 2 September 1993;
30. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Certification of Goods and Services"  of
28 December 1993;
31. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Plant Quarantine" of 31 August 1995;
32. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Pe digree Cattle Breeding" of 21 December 1995;
33. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On International Agreements of the Republic of
Uzbekistan" of 22 December 1995;
34. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Seed Breeding" of 30 August 1996;
35. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Advocates" of 27 December 1996;
36. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Dekhan Entity" of 30 April 1998
37. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Farm Entity" of 30 April 1998
38. Presidential Decree No. UP-345 of 18 February 1992 "On Formation of  the State
Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Science and Techniques  (SCST of theRepublic of Uzbekistan);"
39. Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 360 of 3 August 1992 "On Further Development of
the Structure and Operations of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for
Science and Engineering;"
40. Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 91 of 20 March 1995 "On Adjusting Decisions of
the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Accordance with the Law On
Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs";
41. Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 331 of 21 August 1995 "On Registration Fees for
Official Registration of Computer Programs and Databases";
42. Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 294 of 17 June 1993 "On Approval of the
Regulation on Legal Examination and State Registration of Normative Acts of
Ministries, State Committees and Departments of a Mandatory Nature";
43. Provisional Rules for the Filing, Submission and Examination of Applications for
Official Registration of Computer Programs and Databases of 15 August 1997;
44. Provisional Rules for the Registration of Agreements for Computer Programs and
Databases of 15 August 1997;
45. Regulation on Registration Fees for the Official Registration of Computer Programs,
Databases and Agreements on the Transfer of Property Rights;
46. Rules for the Filing and Submission of Applications on Inventions and Utility Models;
47. Rules for the Filing and Submission of Application on Industrial Designs;
48.
 Rules for the Filing and Submission of Applications for the Registration of Trademarks
and Service Marks;
49. Duties for the Patenting of Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs and for the
Registration of Trademarks and Service Marks;
50. Provisional Regulation on Patent Attorneys of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
51. Provisional Regulation on the Appeals Council under the Patent Agency of the Republic
of Uzbekistan;
52. Rules for the Submission and Examination of an Application of a Patent-Holder to
Acquire the Right to an Open License and on the Publication of Information on Such an
Application;WT/ACC/UZB/2
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53. Patent Term Extension Rules of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Respect of Utility Models;
54. Patent Term Extension Rules of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Respect of Industrial
Designs;
55. Rules for Extension of the Term of Validity of Registration Certificates for Trademarks
and Service Marks and for Making Changes in Registration Certificates for Trademarks
and Service Marks;
56. Rules for the Examination and Registration of Agreements Transferring Rights to
Inventions, Utility Models, Industrial Designs and Licensing Agreements Granting
Rights to Exploit Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs;
57. Rules for Making Changes and Additions to a Registered Licensing Agreement;
58. Provisional Procedure for the Premature Suspension and Revocation of Protection
Documents;
59. Provisional Procedure to be Followed by Applicants in Claiming Rights to Objects to
Industrial Property;
60. Draft of the SCSE Resolution "On Order of Exchange of Protection Documents of the
Former USSR on Selection Achievements, a nd on Order of Acquisition of Patents and
Certificates according to Applications, submitted in the Republic and in Other  States" of
2 September 1997, includes five Schedules;
61. Provisional Order of Collecting Fees for Patenting and Registration of Selection
Achievements and Provisional Amounts of Fees for Patenting and Registration of
Selection Achievements (The Order of the Director of the State Patent Office of 3
September 1997);
62. Provisional Order of Execution by an Applicant of Procedures when Acquiring Rights to
the Objects of Industrial Property (Draft);
63. State List of Botanical and Zoological Species and Varieties, protected in the Republic of
Uzbekistan (The Order of Minselvodkhoz of 4 December, 1997);
64. Rules on Giving a Name to a Plant Variety (The Order od Minselvodkhoz of 3 June
1997);
65. Intergovernmental Agreement on Co-operation in the Field of Industrial Property
Protection, made with Russian Federation (27 June 1995);
66. Intergovernmental Agreement on Co-operation in the Field of Industrial Property
Protection, made with Georgia (28 May 1996)
67. Intergovernmental Agreement on Co-operation in the Field of Industrial Property
Protection, made with the Kyrgyz Republic (24 December 1996);
68. Intergovernmental Agreement on Co-operation in the Field of Industrial Property
Protection, made with the Republic of Kazakhstan (2 June 1997);
69. Intergovernmental Agreement on Co-operation in the Field of Industrial Property
Protection, made with the Republic of Azerbaijan (18 June 1997);
70. Intergovernmental Agreement on Co-operation in the Field of Industrial Property
Protection, made with the Ukraine (19 February 1998).
The following intellectual property legislation is being drafted:
- "On Layouts of Integrated Circuits;"
- "On Firm Names;"
- "On Legal Protection of Appellations of Origin;"
- "On Unfair Competition;"
- "On Secret Objects of Intellectual Property;" and
- "On Service Objects of Industrial Property."WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 72
6. Statistical data on application for and grants  of intellectual property rights as well as
any statistical data on their enforcement
Table V-7:  Statistical Data on Applic ations Received and Decisions Rendered
1994 1995 1996 1997
Applications for protection documents for
inventions including
- from local applicants
- from foreign applicants1,163
977
1861,192
1,019
173(98)1,087
940
147(136)1,014
802
212(85)
Decisions on issuance of protection documents for -inventions
- for local applicants
- for foreign applicants--
1,161
21,192
1,179
131,087
1,046
41753
700
53
Applications for protection documents for industrialdesigns including
- from local applicants- from foreign applicants45
45--63
612125
1232164
15410
Decisions on issuance of protection documents forindustrial designs45 62 96 144
Applications for protection documents for
trademarks including
- from local applicants- from foreign applicants1,984
8261,0582,048
1,2697791,563
8387251,339
609730
Applications submitted for registration inaccordance with the Madrid Treaty2,552 2,321 2,276 2,388
Decisions on registration of trademarks
- for local applicants
- for foreign applicants50
500
4503,042
2,961
2,0816,263
4,042
2,2213,134
1,051
2,083
Applications submitted for registration for
computer programs and databases57 65
Applications submitted for registration for selection
achievements44
Applications for protection documents for utility
models- for local applicants
- for foreign applicants23 12 16
15
1
VI. TRADE IN  SERVICES  REGIME
1. General
Since independence, the type, quality and number of service providers has been  expanding
rapidly.  In 1996, the service  sector  accounted  for 38.3 per cent of GDP and 34.1 per cent of total
employment. A description of selected service industries and the legal regime governing each isprovided in Section 5 to this Part VI and in Annex 7 of  this  Memorandum.
2. Policy affecting trade in services.
(a) Government departments, agencies, professional associations or other bodies  with authority
or a role relevant to the conduct of service activities.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 73
The primary goals of state regulation of the services sector are the suppression of unfair
competition, the maintenance of national security, the protection of the life, health and economic
interest of consumers, and the protection of the environment.  The Republic of Uzbekistan pursues
these goals through a system of regulations intended to impose a minimum of burdens on service
providers.  This regulatory system, with relatively few minor exceptions, is imposed equally on both
foreign and domestic providers; therefore,  foreign service providers generally enjoy nationaltreatment.
The Republic of Uzbekistan does not impose discriminatory regulations on foreign service
providers.
The provision of certain services is subject to licensing and/or certification requirements that
with  are imposed equally on all concerned providers.
A summary of the exceptions to this policy of national treatment for service suppliers is
provided in Section 3 of this Part VI.
Presidential Decree No. 745 of 21 Januar y 1994 "On Measures for Further Expansion of
Economic Reforms, Ensuring the Protection of Private Property and the Development of
Entrepreneurship" specifies the ministries and state bodies that have the power to license economic
activities, including certain service activities: (i) the Cabinet of Ministers, (ii) the Ministry of Justice,
(iii) the Ministry of Finance, (iv) the CBU, (v) the Ministry of Interior, (vi) the Ministry of Health
Care, and (vii) the Ministry of Education.
On 18 April 1994, the Presidium of the Oliy Majlis issued Resolution No. 1034-XII "On
Supplements and Amendments to the List of Activities that Enterprises, Including Foreign and Joint
Venture Enterprises, May Engage in Only on the Basis of a License," which updated the list of
activities that are subject to licensing.
Pursuant to the aforementioned Decree and Resolution, the Cabinet of Ministers issued
Resolution No. 215 of 19 April 1994, "On Improving the Procedure for Issuing Special Authorisations
(Licenses) to Engage in Certain Types of Activities." This resolution constitutes the basic normative
act governing the licensing of service providers in the Republic of Uzbekistan and specifying
activities subject to licensing.  For each listed activity, Resolution No. 215 also specifies the name ofthe ministry or state body having general responsibility for promulgating and administering the
regulations governing  the activity. Table VI-1 sets fo rth the list of activities of interest to service
providers and the corresponding ministry or state body having regulatory authority over that activity.
Table VI-1:  The List of Activities and Regulatory Authority Issuing Licenses
Type  of Activity Regulatory Authority
Development, manufacture, repair and sale of arms and
ammunition, means of protection, military equipment, spare parts
and components, devices thereof, if they are not used in otherindustries, as well as special materials and specialised equipment
for production thereonCabinet of Ministers
Extraction, production, transportation, processing, disposal and
sale of uranium and other radioactive materials as well as articlesthereof.Cabinet of Ministers
Production of electrical energy by stationary power plants
connected to the public energy network.Cabinet of Ministers
Liquidation (destruction, utilisation, disposal) and processing of
abandoned military technical  utilities.Cabinet of MinistersWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 74
Type  of Activity Regulatory Authority
Demonstration and advertisement of military products. Cabinet of Ministers
Tourism services. Cabinet of Ministers
Development, processing and  marketing of oil and gas . Cabinet of Ministers
Precious and rare  metal and stone exploration services. Cabinet of Ministers
Collection and recycling of disposable residues and wastes
containing precious metals and stones.Cabinet of Ministers
Development, manufacture and sale of devices and equipment
containing radioactive substances and isotopes.Cabinet of Ministers
Designing and construction and assembly  works, operating and
repairing  of atomic energy facilities, main pipelines,  bridges,
tunnels as well as military and defence facilities.Cabinet of Ministers
Construction and exploitation of objects of  highly hazardous
character or facilities for the production of potentially dangerous
goods and the production of equipment, control and alarm systems
for such facilities.Cabinet of Ministers
Production of treasury and bank notes, coins, securities (shares,
bonds,  etc.), orders, medals, tokens of postal payment.Central Bank
Medical services. Ministry of Health
Sowing, cultivation and sale of crops containing narcotic
substances.Ministry of Internal Affairs
Production and sale of narcotic substances. Health Ministry upon
agreement of Ministry of
Internal Affairs
Production of pharmacological preparations. Health Ministry
Establishing and operating gambling houses, lotteries and the like. Finance Ministry
Transporting cargo and passengers by rail, air,  sea and motorvehicles.Cabinet of Ministers
Designing, repairing, installing,  adjusting and servicing  fire
equipment  and fire alarms.Ministry of Internal Affairs
Production of movies and chronicle documentaries,  films on
science and technology,  travel films, cartoons and other
programs.State Joint Stock Company
"Uzbekkino"
Circulation, dubbing  and sale of films and video products. State Joint Stock Company
"Uzbekkino"
Film and video rental services. State Joint Stock Company
"Uzbekkino"
Services, including intermediary services, in arranging  productionof films and video programs.State Joint Stock Company
"Uzbekkino"
Design, construction and operation of trunk and internationalcommunication lines.Cabinet of Ministers
Legal services provided to citizens and legal entities. Ministry of Justice
Manufacture, maintenance, operation and sale of enciphering and
deciphering devices.Cabinet of Ministers
Production and sale of metrological equipment. Cabinet of Ministers
Execution of topographic and geodesic cart ographic works. Cabinet of Ministers
Activity in the securities market as  investing institutions. Central Bank
Providing expertise to construction projects. Cabinet of Ministers
Repair, construction and assembly  works of high construction
objects through use of industrial "mountaineering."Cabinet of Ministers
Services involving the certification of goods and services. Cabinet  of   MinistersWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 75
Type  of Activity Regulatory Authority
Engineering, architectural and surveying services in connection
with the construction of manufacturing facilities,  residential and
agricultural projects.Cabinet of Ministers
Educational services provided by private and religious educational
institutions.Cabinet of Ministers
Repair and sale of sports rifles, firearms and ammunition thereof
and side-arms (except national knives).Ministry of Internal Affairs
Auditing services. Ministry of Finance
Production of jewellery from precious metals and stones. Cabinet of Ministers
Production of perfumes, cosmetics and house hold chemical goods. Ministry of Health
If necessary, the Cabinet of Ministers can delegate the right to issue  licenses to an
appropriate governmental organ.
Annex 6 of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 287 of 25 July 1995 "On Measures for
Further Liberalising and Improving Foreign Economic Activities," requires foreign providers of
professional services in Uzbekistan to obtain a license from the Ministry of Labour. Cabinet of
Ministers Resolution No. 175 of 12 May 1996 "On th e Approval of Licensing Provisions for
Transportation and Telecommunication Activities (Amended)" requires enterprises providingtelecommunication and transportation services, regard less of their form of ownership, to obtain a
license from the Commission on Transportation and Telecommunications Licensing under the Cabinet
of Ministers.  Licensed providers of telecommunication services are under the regulatory authority of
the Uzbek Postal and Communication Agency, which is responsible for ensuring compliance with the
terms of the license.  Licensed providers of transportation services are under the regulatory authorityof one of the following three state bodies, depending on the nature of the service: (i) the State Joint
Stock Railway Company "Uzbekistan Temir Yullari" (railway  transportation); (ii) the  Airline
Company "Uzbekistan Khavo Yullari" (air transportation); and (iii) the State Joint Stock  Corporation
"Uzavtotrans" (motor vehicle transportation).
Under Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 175 of 12 May 1996 the transportation of
passengers and cargoes and the conduct of aviation-related activities are not subject to licensing if:
- such activities or transportation services are carried out on the basis of special normative
acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
- such activities or transportation services are related to the liquidation of the consequences
of natural calamities, epidemics, or major industrial accidents that endanger the life orhealth of the people and require emergency rescue and reconstruction operations.WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 76
(b) Judicial, arbitral  or administrative  procedures providing for the review of or remedies in
relation to administrative decisions affecting trade in services.
Any administrative  decision of a state  body  may  be appealed first to the head of  the
concerned state body and thereafter to the commercial court system according to the established
procedures. See Part III, Section 6, of this  Memorandum.
(c) Provisions, including those in international agreements, concerning qualification requirements
and procedures,  technical standards and licenses and/or registration for the supply of services.
Uzgostandart, the standards, metrology and certification agency under the Cabinet of
Ministers, is generally responsible for ensuring that products and services comply with applicable
standards and technical specifications.  However, there is not yet any normative act in the Republic of
Uzbekistan specifying the services that are subject to certification.  The general procedural
requirements for the certification of services comply with the guiding principles of the International
Standards Organisation (ISO).  Uzbekistan also complies with the CIS Agreement on Coordinated
Policy on Standardisation, Metrology and Certification, and the bilateral agreements based on it.
Uzgostandart therefore recognises certificates of  service providers issued by other CIS countries.
Agreements on standardisation and certification measures applicable to services are now under
negotiation with the certain non-CIS countries.
(d) Provisions governing the existence and operation of monopolies or exclusive service suppliers
The basic competition law of Uzbekistan is the law "On Competition and Restriction of
Monopolistic Activities in the Markets for Goods" of 27 December 1996 (the "Antimonopoly Law").
This law is administered by the State Anti monopoly Organ (SAMO). Moreover, the Oliy Majlis
adopted on 24 April 1997 the law "On Natural Monopolies." These laws are described in more detail
in Part II, Section 2.e, of this Memorandum.
There are no service suppliers who have  been  given  an exclusive status.
The legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan provides for classifying as natural monopolies
the providers of the following services: (i) pipeli ne transportation services for oil, gas condensate,
natural gas and coal, (ii) electric energy and heating generation and supply, (iii) railway transportation
services, (iv)  port and air terminal services, (v) public telecommunications and postal services; and(vi) water supply and sewage services.
(e) Provisions relating to protective measures  in respect of trade in service.
The  Republic of Uzbekistan does  not  apply  protective measures  with  respect  to  trade in
services.
(f) Provisions to international transfer and payments for current transactions in services
(g) Provisions to capital transactions affecting the supply of services
See Section 2.c of Part II of this Memorandum. The same regulatory provisions concerning
current operations and payments regulations are applied to both imports and exports.
(h) Provisions governing the procurement by governmental  agencies of services
Procurement of services by governmental agencies is regulated in the same way as the
procurement of goods (See Section 3 of Part IV of this Memorandum).WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 77
(i) Provisions concerning any form of aid,  grant, domestic  subsidy, tax incentive or promotion
scheme affecting trade in services.
Under Article 71 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, certain services (insurance
and reinsurance services, services in the field of public education, services related to the payment of
pensions and social security benefits by postal and communications entities and the like) are exemptfrom VAT. In accordance with Article 31 of the Tax Code, certain specified service providers and the
income from certain service operations are exempt fro m income tax: (i) most educational institutions,
(ii) providers of urban transportation services (excluding taxis); (iii) income from road maintenance,
repair and construction; (iv) newly created busine sses providing tourism services in certain parts of
Uzbekistan (the exemption is valid for no more than three years from the date of registration), etc.
Article 92 of the Tax Code also exempts the following categories of property from the
property tax: (i) property used in providing public transportation services; (ii) pipelines, tram lines,communication lines, power systems, and property used in providing satellite communications, (iii)
property used in road maintenance, (iv) property of newly created businesses providing tourismservices in certain parts of Uzbekistan (the exemption is valid for no more than three years from the
date of registration), etc.
3. Market  Access  And  National  Treatment.
(a) Limitations  on the number of service suppliers.
There are no limitations on the number of service providers.
(b) Limitations on the total value of service transactions and assets.
There are no such limitations.
(c) Limitations on the total number of service operations or on the total quantity of service
output.
There are no such limitations.
(d) Limitations on the total number of natural persons that may be employed in a particular
service sector.
There are no such limitations.
(e) Restrictions on, or requirements of specific types of legal entity through which a service may
be supplied.
With the exception of the following, there are no such restrictions or requirements: (i)
banking services must be offered through a joint stock company organised in Uzbekistan; (ii)
investment fund services may be offered through an open joint stock company organised inUzbekistan; and (iii) insurance services may be offered through a legal entity organised in Uzbekistan.
Other services may be offered  by legal entities organised in Uzbekistan or by individual entrepreneur,
resident in Uzbekistan and duly registered with the local authorities.
(f) Limitations on the participation of foreign capital.
Banking services may only be offered through a joint stock company organised in
Uzbekistan.  There is a general limitation of 35 per cent on the percentage ownership that may be heldWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 78
by any separate entity or person, but it does not apply to the share that may be held by the state or a
foreign bank.  Therefore, it is legally possible fo r a foreign bank to have a wholly owned banking
subsidiary in Uzbekistan; however, as of today, all banks with foreign participation also have some
participation of the State.  Foreign participation in local legal entities providing telecommunications
or transportation services is limited in practice to a maximum of 49 per cent.
(g) Measures providing for less favourable regime than that of the treatment accorded to national
services or services suppliers.
The Republic of Uzbekistan generally provides foreign-owned service providers with non-
discriminatory treatment, subject to certain exceptions: (i) only Uzbek Airlines may offer internal air
services within the Republic of Uzbekistan; foreign airlines holding a license from UzbekistanAirlines may provide international air transport se rvices (see Section 5.f of this Part VI for a
description of the current situation on the issuing of air transportation licenses);  (ii) local banks with
foreign participation must have  share capital  fund of US$5,000,000. minimum while the minimum
share capital fund for the local banks without foreign participation is determined by the CBU on case-
by-case basis; (iii) only an individual citizen may become a barrister ( advocat ), and only a barrister
may render legal services for criminal case hearings (for all other cases related to legal assistance
services foreign attorneys and lawyers may obtain a license on the same basis as Uzbek citizens do);
and (iv) to render insurance services on the territory of Uzbekistan foreign insurers should set up a
legal entity of the Republic of Uzbekistan either with or without participation of local capital.
4. Most Favored Nation Treatment.
The Republic of Uzbekistan provides equal regime to foreign service providers regardless of
their nationality. The Republic of Uzbekistan also provides equal regime to foreign individuals or
foreign companies willing to invest in the country’s service sector.
5. Description  of  the  market and  the  mech anism  for regulating  the most  prominent
service  sectors.
(a) Legal services.
All  lawyers must have a law degree.  The legal profession is divided into three basic
categories of lawyers:  (i)  advocates, i.e. lawyers in private practice who have become members of
their local College of Advocates, the professional bar association,  (ii) other private practice lawyers,
i.e. lawyers and law firms who or which have obtained a license from the Ministry of Justice to offer
legal services to the public, and (iii) lawyers not engaged in private practice, such as in-housecompany lawyers and Government lawyers.
An advocat has the right to render all legal services to the public, including legal services  in
connection with criminal matters.  An advocat is  not entitled to render legal services to the
Government. The lawyers employed directly by the Government or a company or other organisation -
do not require a license: they are subject to attestation obtaining certificate of legal adviser .  Most
lawyers fall into this last category.
Advocats generally offer their legal services to the public through their local College of
Advocats.  The advocats’ performance is regulated by the law "On Advocatship" of
27 December 1996. An advocat must be a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan having higherjuridical education and having received a license to practice law. An advocat must pass a qualification
examination in order to obtain a license to practice law. A license to practice law may be issued by the
Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Karakalpakstan or the department of justice of any  regionalWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 79
khokimiyat or the khokimiyat of the City of Tashkent. The license is issued in accordance with the
regulations of the concerned commission on qualifications.
In order to obtain membership in his local College of Advocats, an applicant is required to
have the required minimum practical experience. Generally, the experience requirement will be met if
the applicant has served an internship of six months to one year at his local College of Advocats or if
he has two years of practical experience as a lawyer.
The performance of lawyers and law firms in private practice is regulated by the Ministry of
Justice, which, pursuant to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 215 of 19 April 1994,  has been given
licensing authority over lawyers in private practice.  Under the regulations of the Ministry of Justice,
any citizen holding a law degree from a recognised institution of legal education and who has three
years of practical experience as a lawyer, as well as any legal entity (including a foreign owned legal
entity) employing such a person, may apply for a licen se to offer non-criminal legal services to the
public.  In addition, a legal entity applying for such a license must have a provision in its charterstating that it is authorised to offer such legal services.
Accordingly  to the law "On Notariat" adopted on 26 December 1996 by the Oliy Majlis of
the Republic of Uzbekistan activity of private notaries was allowed since 1 March 1997 in the
territory of Uzbekistan, granting the right to set up private notary offices upon the license issued by
the Ministry of Justice.
Since 1994, the Ministry of Justice has granted several licenses to legal entities offering
non criminal legal services to the public, being se veral ones owned partly or wholly  by foreign
persons or companies. There are no available statistics on the number of  lawyers working for the
Government or as in-house lawyers at companies or other organisations.
(b) Telecommunication services.
In the telecommunication services market, telephone services are almost wholly provided by
the open joint-stock companies "Makhaliy Tele com" (local telecommunications) and "Khalkaro
Telecom" (international telecommunications) . Currently, a digital inter-city and  international
communications network is being established in co-operation with "Alcatel CEL AG," "De-Te-Line,"
and Siemens (Germany). The construction of the Uzbekistan segment of the trans-eurasia fibre opticline has been completed.
Pursuant to Cabinet of Ministers Resoluti on  No. 175 of 12 May 1996 "On the Approval of
Licensing Provisions for Transportation and Teleco mmunications Activities," firms planning to offer
telecommunication services (e.g., international telephone, trunk line telephone, local telephone,
telegraph, fax, telex and postal services) must first be licensed by the Cabinet of Ministers’Commission on Transportation and Telecommunications Licensing.  The design, construction and
operation of the following categories of telecommunications systems is subject to licensing: (i)
non-international long distance telephone communications, (ii) international telephone
communications, (iii) cellular communications for public use, (iv)  personal paging for public use, (v)
data processing and transmission networks, and (vi) television and radio broadcasting. Licensed
providers of telecommunication services are under the regulatory authority of the Uzbek Postal and
Telecommunications Agency, which is responsible for ensuring compliance with the terms of thelicense.
The Postal Agency and the state joint-stock company "Uzbekpost" provides postal services
and under an agreement with "Makhaliy Telecom" (local telecommunications provider) and
"Khalkaro Telecom" (international telecommunications provider), as well as retail telegram services
and retail inter-city and international telephone services to the walk-in public. Uzbekpost providesWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 80
such services at most of its offices throughout the Republic of Uzbekistan.  In addition, private
companies can lease lines from Uzbekpost.
The lines operated by "Makhaliy Telecom" (local telecommunications provider) and
"Khalkaro Telecom" (international telecommunications provider) are utilised for voice and data
communication, including the exchange of computer data and facsimile communication.  International
traffic goes through the Tashkent Centre for International Electronic Communication, with sometraffic going through the INTELSAT satellite communication system.
There is also a State-owned production associa tion of state-owned enterprises involved in
providing radio-relay main cable services and television and radio broadcast services. A number of
private companies, partly foreign owned, offer va rious telecommunication services: (i) "Uzdunrobita-
US-Uzbek JV Cellular Communications," 45 per ce nt foreign-owned; (ii) "Kamalak TV-US-Uzbek
Cable TV and Paging Communication," 49 per cent foreign-owned; (iii) "Buzton-Digital
Communications," an Uzbek-British JV, 49 per cent foreign-owned; (iv) "Uzsviazsputnic-SatelliteCommunications," 49 per cent foreign-owned; (v) "Aloka Daewoo" (pro duction of communications
equipment),  49 per cent foreign-owned;  (vi) "Atel Telephone and Telecommunications Equipment,"
49 per cent foreign-owned; (vii) "Uzmakom" (cel lular communications), an Uzbek-Malaysian JV,
49 per cent foreign-owned; and (viii) "Chircom," an Uzbek-German JV, 49 per cent foreign-owned.
Wholly private enterprises (including those with foreign participation) set their own rates.
Enterprises in which the Government has some partic ipation must co-ordinate the setting of rates with
the Uzbek Postal and Telecommunications Agency.
In 1995, the level of telephone installation in the country was 10.4 per 100 families.  In
Tashkent, there are 20.9 telephones for every 100 persons. The Uzbek Postal and
Telecommunications Agency is authorised to  administer the regulations affecting the
telecommunications industry. In accordance with  Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 307 of
1 August 1995 "On the National Program for the Reconstruction and Development of
Telecommunications in the Republic of Uzbekist an till the Year 2010," the Uzbek Postal and
Telecommunications Agency is to carry out the reconstruction and  development of the
telecommunications network by the year 2010. It is anticipated that by that year, 4,494,0000telephone numbers will have been installed. The objectives of the effort to reconstruct and develop the
telecommunications system by 2010 are as follows: (i) to  switch over to digital equipment, (ii) to raise
the level of  telephone density per capita to 20-25 per cent, (iii) to introduce up to 180 different types
of high quality services, (iv) to establish fibre-optic cable and telecommunications equipment
production, and (v) to integrate the national network into the world telecommunications network.
Table VI-2:  Forecast for Inter-City and International Telephone Communication Development
Availability  by Year End
Indices 1995 1996 1997 2000 2005 2010
Level  of automated exchanges in
percentage.76.3 77.0 78.0 87.0 96.0 98.0
Number of terminal channels of interzone
communication, thousands.53.1 53.5 53.8 54.5 55.0 55.6
Number of  international  channels,
thousands.1.8 1.9 2.1 2.7 3.3 4.4
Length development of digital
communication lines,  in kilometres.
Total - - 463.5 887.0 1,288.0 1,200.0
including:
mainlineinterzone-
--
-463.5
-887.0
-1,288.0
-1,200.0
-WT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 81
(c) Health services.
State-owned health institutions render medical and dental services to citizens free of  charge.
The provision of health services is regulated by the law "On the Health Protection of the Citizens" of
29 August 1996.
The state does not limit the ownership or number of health care facilities. Cabinet of
Ministers Resolution No. 240 of 5 May 1992, "On the List of Activities that can be Carried out byEnterprises Only on the Basis of Special Permits," and Ministry of Health Order No. 343 of
16 July 1992, "On the Establishment of the Licensing Committee Under the Ministry of Health,"
provide for the establishment of private health care facilities.   Such private facilities are, however,
subject to licensing by the Ministry of Health. Decisions on license applications are required to be
made not later than 30 days after the submission of all required documentation.  Licenses are issued
for a renewable period.
Under Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 215 of 19 April 1994, a  provider of  for-pay
health care services, including health clinics a nd providers of pharmacological services, are to be
licensed  by the  Ministry of  Health.  Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 378 of 21 July 1994 "On
Approval of the Instructions on Private Medical Practice" provides that a person who (i) has received
the required medical education and a diploma evidencing such education and (ii) has at least five
years professional experience may obtain a private practice license from the Ministry of Health.Thereafter, the license holder must register with  the local authority where he plans to engage in
private practice.
Any person, including a foreign citizen, who meets the requirements has the right to obtain a
license and to engage in private practice, provided  that the Ministry of Health has recognised the
educational institution issuing the diploma. Foreign citizens desiring to practice medicine inUzbekistan must undergo attestation at the Ministry  of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan for
compliance with the national requirements of the Republic of Uzbekistan, unless otherwise is
established in an international agreement. Private health care providers are not allowed to treat
tuberculosis, psychological disorders, venereal diseases, oncological disorders, or any serious
inflammations or infectious  diseases  (e.g., AIDS, leprosy).  Private pharmaceutical enterprises arenot allowed to produce, store or sell narcot ics, psychotropic or other virulent medicines.
Table VI-3:  The Basic Parameters  of  Health Care
1995 1996
No. of  physicians  in all specialities.   76,200   78,800
No. of  medical  support  personnel.  249,600  265,300
No. of  hospital  beds.  192,200  196,300
No. of  health care establishments
offering  out-patient  polyclinic services.  3107    3168
(d) Education services.
The State provides nine years of compulsory education free of charge to all citizens of
Uzbekistan.  Thereafter, a citizen has the right to c ontinue his or her education free of charge for up to
two additional years at his current school or he may enrol free of charge at a specialised state-runtechnical school (e.g., a medical technicians school, agriculture institute, or other technical school).
Thereafter, a student may enrol free of charge at one of the state-run universities, which have been
established on the basis of faculties specialising in different specialities (e.g., the University of World
Languages, Tashkent Medical Institute, Tashkent State Technical University, etc.).  There is one
single entry exam for all institutions of higher education.  Generally, at this time there are no laws orWT/ACC/UZB/2
Page 82
regulations of general applicability governing the  establishment of private schools; all applications
for the right to establish a private school are reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the Ministry of
Education, which is responsible for licensing such institutions.  Applicants seeking the right to
establish a private university must obtain a license from the Ministry of Higher Education, which also
reviews applications on a case-by-case basis.
Table VI-4:  Number of Students in University-Level
Institutions as of the Beginning of the Academic Year
1995 1996
Number of educational institutions 58 59
Number of students 192,100 165,700
Table VI-5:  Number of Students in Special Technical Institutes
as of the Beginning of the Academic Year
1995 1996
No. of   educational  institutions 252 258
No. of   students 194,800 197,200
(e) Banking services.
The functions of a monetary authority are performed by the Ministry of Finance and the
Central Bank of Uzbekistan. The CBU, which enjoys a great deal of independence by virtue of the
Law "On the Central Bank" of 21 December 1995, has the right to issue bank notes and coins and to
regulate the use of foreign currency within the territory of Uzbekistan.  The CBU issues cash,
provides deposit and transfer services to the Government, approves the amounts and terms of credits
extended to the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, establishes economic norms for banks and
controls their implementation, and takes decisions on issuing and revoking licenses for the conduct ofbanking activity.
On 25 April 1996, the Oliy Majlis passed a new law, the law "On Banks and Banking
Activities," that now serves as the fundamental piece of legislation governing the operation of
commercial banks. That law states that the CBU ha s the authority, within its discretion, to establish
the minimum share capital fund requirements for commercial banks on a case-by-case basis.
In accordance with the "Instruction on Procedures for Registering and Licensing Banks,"
approved by Protocol No. 5 of the Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of the
Republic of Uzbekistan of 25 January 1997, the minimum share capital fund requirement for a
subsidiary bank established by a non-resident bank or for local banks with foreign participation was
set at the amount equivalent to US$5,000,000.
In order to offer commercial banking and other financial services, it is necessary for the
concerned legal entity to obtain a license from, and be registered with, the CBU.  A bank need not
register with any other state body.  First, the applicant must submit a basic application to the CBU to
open a commercial bank.  After reviewing and approving the basic application, the CBU issues a
preliminary consent which is conditioned by the submission within six months of the following
documents: (i) complete information on the bank’s financial assets, (ii) a draft of the bank’s charter,
(iii) complete information on the professional suitability of the person who is going to be the seniorexecutive officer of the bank, and  (iv) the report of a licensed auditor on the financial status of the
founders.  The founders of the bank can be legal entities and/or individuals, including foreign
individuals and  companies  (but not public associations,  public foundations or  foreign state  bodies).WT/ACC/UZB/2
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No shareholder may hold more than 35 per cent of the outstanding shares of a bank; however, this
restriction does not apply to state-owned shares or shares owned by foreign banks.
(f) Transport services.
General
Uzbekistan is a land-locked country; roads and railways are considered the major means of
transportation. There are 78,400 km of roads, 90 per cent of which are paved. There are 3,600 km ofrailway track, 488.8 km of which are electrified.  A five year plan to  electrify  400 additional km of
railway track by the year 2000 has been elaborated. There are external and internal air links. There is
a system of domestic and international air transportation. The air transportation system has been
connected to the global aviation communications system "SNTS-Gabriel."  All internal air services
are provided by the national air carrier, Uzbekistan Havo Yullari (Uzbekistan Airlines). Some
international air services are provided by internat ional carriers (Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Russia-
based Transaero, etc.) Currently, international air operations provide connections to 18 non-CISforeign cities. Water transportation services are offered in Uzbekistan, primarily over the Amudarya
River at Termez.
The domestic motor transportation industry has undergone significant reform. By the end of
1996, more than 304 enterprises in the industry had been privatised, the ownership in each of these
privatised enterprises has been distributed as follows: (i)10 per cent-50 per cent of the shares weretransferred to the concerned workers or labour collective,  (ii) 24 per cent-39 per cent of the shares
were sold at auction, and (iii) 26 per cent-51 per cent of the shares were retained by the state.
The Government continues the privatisation policy towards the state-owned transportation
enterprises.
In particular, the privatisation of certain su bdivisions of the state-owned joint-stock railway
company "Uzbekiston Temir Yullari" began at the end of 1997.
The following tables indicate the goods turnover (million of tons-kilometres) and  indicate the
passenger turnover (million of  passenger-kilometres).
Table VI-6:  Goods Turnover ( million of ton-km)
Method of Transport 1995 1996
Motor Vehicles     2299.7     2168.4
Railroad   16831.0   19826.0
Air       106.0      121.0
Total   19236.7   22115.4
Table VI-7:  Passenger Turnover ( million of passenger-km)
Method  of  Transport 1995 1996
Motor Vehicles 14,659.0 14,170.0
Railroad 2,498.0 1,999.0
Electric trolley-bus and trams 1,963.8 1,926.3
Air 2,984.0 2,993.0
Total 2,2104.8 21,088.3WT/ACC/UZB/2
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All persons and legal entities offering transportation services to the public, including freight
forwarders and persons or legal entities offering transportation-related repair or technical services to
the transportation industry or the general public, must be licensed.  This requirement is generally
provided for by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 215 of 19 April 1994, which gives the Cabinet of
Ministers the authority to license participants in the transportation industry.
Motor Vehicle Transportation Services
In order to offer the following types of motor vehicle transportation services, a person or legal
entity must hold the appropriate license:
- transportation of goods;
- transportation of passengers;
- transportation/forwarding services; and
- providing transportation-related technical or repair services to the transportation industry
or the general public.
Under Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 215 of  19 April 1994, the Cabinet of Ministers
retained authority to license transportation service pr oviders.  In the area of motor transport, the actual
licensing procedure was initially carried out by the State Joint Stock Uzavtotrans Corporation (UC),
the main supplier of motor transportation servic es in the country.  UC is the state-owned
transportation company and is comprised of some 450 separate motor transportation  enterprises.
On 12 May 1996, the licensing of private motor carriers was changed when the Cabinet of
Ministers passed Resolution  No. 175 "On the A pproval of the Licensing Provisions for
Transportation and Telecommunication Activities."  Under Resolution No. 175, firms desiring to offer
transportation services must now be licensed by the Cabinet of Ministers Commission on
Transportation and Telecommunications Licensing. the State Joint Stock Uzavtotrans Corporationstill plays a role in the license application process.  Resolution No. 175 provides that an enterprise
engaging in offering any of the following types of  transportation services needs to obtain a license:
(i) intra-city passenger transportation; (ii) inner-metropolitan and long distance passenger and cargo
transportation; (iii) international passenger and cargo transportation; (iv) the operation of motor
transportation vehicle terminals and ticket sales offices; and (v) domestic and international freightforwarding services.
Table VI – 8:  Volume of Transportation of Goods and Passengers in 1996
Cargo Passengers
213.3 million tons 1,8321,000
97  per cent of 1995 level 100.7 per cent of 1995 level
Air Transportation
Air transportation services are regulated by the Air Code of 7 May 1993.  The Air Code
specifies that only the National Aviation Company "Uzbekistan Khavo Yullari" is entitled to offer
domestic air transportation services. In addition to regular international and domestic flights,
Uzbekistan Airlines "Uzbekistan Khavo Yullari" performs the following activities :WT/ACC/UZB/2
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- regular service carriage of passengers and cargo;
- charter service; and
- aircraft and crew leasing.
Under Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 175 of 12 May 1996, all firms rendering
transportation services must be licensed by the Cabinet of Ministers’ Commission on Transportation
and Telecommunications Licensing.  Uzbekistan Airlines "Uzbekistan Khavo Yullari" participates inthe licensing process.
At present, seven foreign-based air carriers have been licensed to offer international air
transportation services in the country.
Railroad Transportation
A Presidential Decree of 7 November 1994 established  Uzbekistan Temir Yullari, the
State-owned joint stock railway company,  (Uzbekistan Railways). Cabinet of Ministers Resolution
No. 551 of 14 November 1994 "On Organisational Issues of Activities of the State-owned Joint-Stock
Railway Company "Uzbekiston Temir Yullari" provides that Uzbekistan Railways may determine in
its own discretion the appropriate method for operating the railway system. Uzbekistan Railways
carries out all railway transportation services and is considered a natural monopoly.
Resolution No. 551 also provides that "Uzbekiston Temir Yullari" is to be the legal successor
to all rights and obligations of the now defunct Central Asian Railway Company with respect to allrailway sections, associations, enterprises, and  agencies located in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 175 of 12 May 1996 provides that private companies and
enterprises providing services in the field of rail transportation are subject to licensing by the Cabinet
of Ministers Commission on Transportation and Telecommunications Licensing. The state-owned
joint-stock railway company "Uzbekiston Temir Yullari" participates in the licensing process.
(g) Insurance
Fundamental changes in the market for insurance services are characterised by the transition
from a system where insurance was provided by a single state-owned company to a market system
which provides for the existence of both state companies (the National Export-Import Insurance
Company "Uzbekinvest," the State Insurance Joint Stock Company "Uzagrosugurta," and the StateInsurance Joint Stock Company "Kafolat") and more than 50 insurance companies having a mixed
form of ownership, including four companies with foreign participation. The law of the Republic of
Uzbekistan "On Insurance" passed on 6 May 1993 is the basis for the development of the insurance
industry.
The law covers both voluntary and mandatory insurance.Pursuant to Articles 922 and 923 of the Ci vil Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan of
1 March 1997, mandatory insurance must be issued in accordance with the conditions and procedures
determined by the current legislation.
The following are subject to mandatory insurance requirements in the Republic:WT/ACC/UZB/2
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- the transportation of passengers;
- the lives of experts engaged in high-risk occupations; and
- the property of agricultural enterprises.
All other types of insurance are voluntary. The conditions of voluntary insurance, as well as
the rights and obligations of the insurer and the insured, are determined in accordance with the
concerned insurance agreement.
The National Export-Import Insurance Company "Uzbekinvest" created pursuant to a
Presidential Decree is a multi-purpose insurance organisation functioning on a commercial basis and
having three basic areas of operation:
(i) insuring Uzbek exporters against political and commercial risks in foreign countries;
(ii) insuring, through its London-based joint venture  "Uzbekinvest International", foreign
investors operating in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan against political risks.
(iii) providing general insurance services to domestic and foreign investors of the Republic of
Uzbekistan.
In order to carry out insurance activities, an enterprise must register with the concerned
khokimiyat, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance. Registration is performed
automatically and in a non-discriminatory manner; the examination of the application is usually
completed within a month, but this mechanism is being constantly improved.
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