The key facts
- The draft provides for extending the zero duty for 45 product items until 1 January 2028 and partially preserving it for two items
- For nine categories of food products, the reinstatement of duties is proposed from 1 January 2027
- The Ministry of Foreign Trade stated that existing benefits are not being cut, but merely not extended after their expiry
What was discussed
On 27 October, a draft presidential resolution introducing customs duties on imports of certain food products was discussed at a meeting of the Public Council for Supporting Entrepreneurship under the president. At present, imports of many food and consumer goods are temporarily exempt from duties, and this benefit is valid until 1 January 2027. Under the draft, the duty-free regime is proposed to be extended for most goods, but for nine categories the benefit is not to be extended. This was reported by Kun.uz.
The essence of the draft
According to Sarvar Khujayev, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, current documents apply a zero customs duty rate to imports of 56 types of consumer goods. The draft provides for extending the zero rate until 1 January 2028: the benefit is planned to be fully preserved for 45 types of goods and partially for two product items. For nine categories, no extension after the deadline is envisaged, meaning that duties on their imports are proposed to be reinstated from 1 January 2027. These are: condensed milk and cream; yogurt; cheese and cottage cheese; apples, pears and quinces; sugar confectionery; chocolate; pasta; mineral and carbonated waters; and non-alcoholic beverages.
The ministry's position
Sarvar Khujayev explained that the proposals were prepared on the basis of an analysis of production capacities in the republic, the output volumes of local enterprises and the degree to which domestic demand is met. «We are not removing any product items from the existing benefit, we are not cutting the benefit. We proceeded from the approach: which products we can additionally support after the benefit expires,» Kun.uz quoted him as saying. Thus, according to the ministry, this is not about abolishing existing benefits, but about declining to extend them for certain items — and it was precisely this approach that became the subject of criticism at the meeting, as the outlet reports in the headline of its article.
