Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan has introduced export duties on 86 types of goods as part of efforts to streamline export procedures and promote the production of high value-added products.

On 14 March, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree aimed at aligning the country's export regulations with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Customs Committee reported.

Effective from 1 July, the new customs duties will apply to raw leather and silk, cotton yarn, and knitted products, which were previously subject to industry association fees—now abolished. The tariffs will also cover meat, wheat, rice, mineral fertilizers, polyethylene (PET) waste, and non-ferrous metal scrap. At the same time, the requirement to obtain presidential or governmental approval for their export has been eliminated.

Additionally, duties have been imposed on strategic raw materials produced domestically to support the local processing industry. The list includes:

Natural gas

Cotton fiber and linters

Polyethylene

Polypropylene

Polystyrene

Polyethylene terephthalate

PVC

Copper raw materials

Certain types of fertilizers

Authorities believe these measures will increase the production of high value-added goods using domestic raw materials and enhance the investment appeal of processing enterprises.

Azizbek Urunov, the president’s special representative for WTO affairs, highlighted that Uzbekistan is reinstating export duties, a practice abandoned in 1997. Previously, certain goods were either banned from export or required government approval.

Export restrictions were lifted in 2017, and the new decree now completely eliminates the permit system. Urunov noted that the previous system lacked transparency in how export permissions were granted.

"With the removal of permits and the introduction of export duties, export procedures are now clearer and more transparent," he explained, emphasizing that WTO rules allow for export duties but prohibit other export restrictions.