Uzbekistan introduces new customs clearance procedure

The decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan approved measures on fundamental improvement of the activities of the state customs service of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The following order is to be established according to the document starting July 1, 2018:

- permits by customs authorities when placing goods under customs regimes, as well as permits to change the route of foreign road carriers on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan is canceled;

- customs clearance of identical goods (in physical characteristics, the manufacturer code of the commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity) in the framework of one foreign trade agreement (contract) is performed by providing a periodic declaration;

- quarantine permit, permission to import and export objects of flora and fauna, ozone-depleting substances and products containing them, the certificate of conformity, veterinary, hygienic and environmental certificates for identical goods within one foreign trade contract (contract) are issued only once, but no more than for one calendar year;

- licensing of the activities of duty-free shops, free warehouse and customs warehouse is carried out centrally by the Central Office of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

- participants of foreign economic activity have the right to fill in and submit cargo customs declarations to customs authorities in real time via the Internet without contacting customs brokers;

- introduction of the practice of preliminary declaration of imported goods before their actual arrival in the customs territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan, including in order to encourage bona fide participants of foreign economic activity by the release of imported goods in free circulation directly at the border crossing points;

- customs authorities together with tax authorities and bodies of the Department for combating tax, currency crimes and legalization of criminal income under the General Prosecutor's office of the Republic of Uzbekistan systematically monitor overstatement of prices for goods imported by state-owned enterprises and organizations in the authorized capital of which there is a share of the state;

- the property which is stored in customs warehouses over three years is detained by customs authorities and, in case of not demand within 3 months, is collected in favor of the state on the basis of the judgment, further realized or destroyed by the Bureau of compulsory execution at the Prosecutor General's office of the Republic of Uzbekistan in accordance with the established procedure.