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Published: 30 Oct 2008 09:16:04 PST

Uzbekistan

Business Environment

Standards

National standards organizations

Uzstandart- Office of metrology and certification

Integration in the international standards network

Uzstandard, the Uzbek agency for standardization, metrology and certification, represents the Republic of Uzbekistan at the following international bodies:
- International Standards Organization (ISO)
- International Organization for Legal Metrology (OILM)
- Interstate council of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) for Standardization, Metrology and Certification (EASC)

Uzstandard is an associated member of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC)

For more information, directly contact infocenter@standart.uz

Classification of standards

Uzbekistan still uses a set of technical norms based on the soviet methods. There are more than 65 000 documents concerning to these norms.

Online consultation of standards

Visit the website of Uzstandard.

Certification organizations

Inspection and certification is carried out by the Center for Inspection and Certification, as well as 73 other accredited entities

Legal framework

Independence of justice

The Judiciary is not at all independent in Uzbekistan. It is subservient to the President who appoints all judges and can remove them from office at any time.

Equal treatment of nationals and foreigners

The European Commission has often underlined the fact that the absence of a secure judiciary is the main problem for investors. Foreign nationals cannot expect an impartial trail from the country's judicial system.

The language of justice

The judicial language used in the country is Uzbek.

Having recourse to an interpreter

Having an interpreter is possible.

Sources of the law and legal similarities

The main source of the law is the constitution of December 1992. Even though the country's legal system is an evolution of Soviet civil law, it lacks transparency. Uzbekistan is a member of CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). CIS acts as a symbolic organization possessing only coordinating powers related to trade, finance, lawmaking, and security among the member states.

The Constitution can be consulted online in English on the website of the Uzbek Parliament.

Consulting national laws online

Website of the official daily newspaper, Narodnoe slovo (which means Voice of the People) gives the laws, the Presidential and governmental decrees (in Russian)
Website of the Uzbek organisation Norma Hamkor, specialised in electronic publishing
Website of the Parliament of Uzbekistan

Intellectual Property

National organizations

Uzbekistan still observes the convention leading to the establishment of the World Intellectual Property Organisation, Paris Convention (industrial property rights) and the Madrid agreement (trademarks) and the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT).
The patents office of 1993 and the patents given by the ex-USSR must once again be registered as well as the trademarks (subsequent to the passing of a law by the Uzbekistan Parliament).

Regional organizations

Uzbekistan is not a member of any of the regional organizations in the domain of Intellectual Property but the Uzbek Republican Agency for Copyright maintains links with the WIPO as well as its Kazakh, Kirghiz and Russian counterparts.

Also see the website of the State Patent Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

It may also be useful to consult the following Russian websites:

- The Russian organization for Copyrights.

- Information Portal on Copyrights and Patents in Russia.

National regulation and international agreements

Type of property	Law	Validity	International agreements signed
Patent	Copyrights Law of 26th March 2006. Available in Russian.	During the lifetime of the proprietor and 50 years after his/her death
Trademark	Law on Trademarks submitted, Services and Designations of Origin of 2001	10 years	Trademark law treaty Nice agreement concerning the International classification of goods and Services for the Purposes of the registration of Marks Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks
Design	Read the publication "Doing Business in Uzbekistan 2007" by Baker & McKenzie	20 years
Copyright	Copyrights Law and related rights on the website of the Uzbek Republican Agency for Copyrights	50 years
Industrial Models	Read the publication "Doing business in Uzbekistan 2007" by Baker & McKenzie

Tax rates

Consumption taxes

Nature of the tax

According to the tax code in Uzbekistan, the VAT is fixed at 20% for products and services imported into the country. The payment is made either before or during the customs formalities.

Article 71 of the Tax Code gives the list of products exempt from VAT.

Tax rate

20%

Reduced tax rate

The reduced rates vary between 10% and 20%.

Other consumption taxes

The tax on the added value of imports is 20%. Customs duties on the export of all types of products or services were abolished since 1st November 1997.

Corporate taxes

Tax rate

Taxation on profits

10% in 2007

Capital gains taxation

Long term capital gains are incorporated in the taxable income and thus subjected to the same corporate income tax rate. The tax rate on unearned income is 10%.

Main allowable deductions and tax credit

It is possible to reduce the taxable income in the following ways:-

- transfer to Charity Funds or Environmental Funds : upto 1% of the taxable income

- expenses towards developmental aid : upto 30% of the taxable income.

It is also possible to obtain fiscal privileges if one is:

- a production company with foreign investments whereby the company is engaged in the production of goods that generate more than 60% of its income

- a company exporting its production with foreign investments for which the export volume should be at least equal to 60% of its production.

Other corporate taxes

The other taxes to which the companies are subjected to are:

- tax on mining
- excise duty
- Property tax : 3.5% of the value of assets for a company
- Land Tax
- Water tax
- Compulsory taxes : intended for the Road Fund (1% of the annual sales turnover), Education development (1% of the annual sales turnover) and for Pensions.

Double taxation treaties

Countries with whom a double taxation treaty have been signed
Whithholding taxes: Dividends: 10%, Interest: 10%, Royalties: 20%
Bilateral agreement

Sources of fiscal information

Tax Authorities: State Committee for taxes
Other domestic resources: Ministry of Finance

Accounting rules

Tax year: The fiscal year is as per the calendar year.
Accounting regulation bodies: Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan
Professional accountancy bodies: National Association of accountants and audit professionals
Certification and auditing: A list of more than five hundred organizations is available on the website of the Ministry of Finance.
Accounting news

Business practices

Closed hours and days

Public service offices are open from 9h00 to 18h00 from Monday to Friday.
Companies are open from 9h00 to 18h00 or from 8h00 to 17h00 from Monday to Friday
The weekly days off : Saturday and Sunday.

Shops are open every day from 8h00 to 21h00.

Public holidays

New Years Day	1st January
Military Services Day	14th January
Women's Day	8th March
Navruz	21st March
Victory Day	9th May
Independance Day	1st September
Teacher's Day	1st October
Day of the Uzbek Constitution	8th December