A number of media outlets and bloggers reported last week on the planned tightening of the procedure for importing cars into Uzbekistan starting from April 1.

Such an executive order was issued on March 25, which approved the proposal of the Agency for Technical Regulation, sent to the Cabinet of Ministers on March 19.

According to the order, from April 1, vehicles will not be processed under the customs regime IM-40 “release for free circulation” if the certificate of conformity for them is issued to other individuals and legal entities.

The Customs Committee has been instructed to prepare proposals for amending the legislation to prohibit the transfer of cars under the customs regime of a customs warehouse to the name of other persons.

There have been no official announcements about the introduction of any changes in the import of cars.

Earlier, at the end of December last year it was reported that the government was mulling a plan to tighten the rules for the import of cars, including electric cars. In particular, it was planned to ban the import of cars by individuals for commercial purposes from 2024 and return to the procedure for selling new foreign cars only through official dealers.

Justification for changes

The letter from the Technical Regulation Agency provides information on the import of passenger cars and their compliance with quality and safety indicators, prepared on the basis of the instructions of the Prime Minister from November last year.

It is reported that a draft regulatory act is being developed to restore the order according to which new imported cars can be sold only by legal entities - official dealers of manufacturing enterprises. Let us remind you that this rule was canceled by presidential decree on January 1, 2023. Thanks to this, individuals were able to import and sell imported cars, and cars appeared on the market, the price of which was lower than that of official dealers.

While, the agency has prepared amendments to the general technical regulations on the safety of wheeled vehicles put into circulation.

A regulatory impact assessment is carried out to identify possible consequences, including the imposition on stakeholders of unreasonable costs, unnecessary obligations, prohibitions and restrictions that may arise as a result of the development and adoption of a draft regulatory legal act, as well as the effect of the act by analyzing the problem and ways to solve it and regulatory purposes.

Also, since individuals and legal entities can import one vehicle for their own needs during the year under simplified certification, which does not imply an assessment of their compatibility with the natural and climatic conditions of Uzbekistan, as well as an assessment of the protection of drivers and passengers in frontal and lateral collisions, noted in the letter.

In 2023, in Uzbekistan, certificates of conformity were issued for 61,372 of 62,748 imported cars, while 60,451 certificates were issued to individuals, which allows car sellers to avoid the vehicle type approval procedure, the letter says.