On May 6, Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed a presentation on the work carried out in 2025 regarding Uzbekistan’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and tasks for accelerating this process.
Last year, significant results were achieved within the framework of multilateral and bilateral negotiations on Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO. Two meetings of the working group on the republic’s accession were held, during which WTO members were provided with responses to more than 200 questions, as well as over 30 documents on foreign trade.
In addition, more than 40 rounds of bilateral negotiations took place. Negotiations with 11 countries have been completed, and the total number of states with which the negotiation process has already been finalized reached 33.
WTO members view the reforms being implemented in Uzbekistan to transition to a market economy positively. In particular, 68 normative-legal acts were brought into compliance with WTO requirements and international standards last year.
As part of the harmonization with WTO rules, procedures for registering intellectual property objects have been simplified and responsibility for violations in this area has been strengthened; export restrictions have been lifted and export duties with a transparent mechanism have been introduced, and the practice of setting minimum export prices for certain types of products has been discontinued.
Also, as part of the reforms to reduce technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, a certification system has been introduced in place of the bureaucratic procedure of mandatory state registration of high-risk products.
Control over food safety has been transferred to the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health. Additionally, 14 technical regulations on food products have been abolished, the requirement for mandatory certification has been removed for 747 commodity items, and the relevant list has been reduced by 27%.
During the presentation, the adoption of new laws on food safety and trade protection measures was reviewed, as well as the status of the implementation of risk analysis, traceability, and scientific substantiation procedures in the fields of sanitation, veterinary medicine, and quarantine.
The President gave instructions for the high-quality implementation of comprehensive measures aimed at securing Uzbekistan’s full membership in the WTO in 2026.
Furthermore, necessary measures were determined for the systematic continuation of work to bring legislation in the sphere of foreign economic activity into full compliance with WTO rules and international trade standards, and to complete bilateral and multilateral negotiations on accession and the formalization of WTO membership.
The English version of this material was generated with the assistance of AI translation tools and may differ slightly from the original text.
