To secure the provision of certain food items for the population of Uzbekistan and stabilize prices in the domestic market, the government of the country has set zero customs duties on the import of 22 types of food products, including banana and citrus fruits, EastFruit experts report.
According to the relevant decree of the head of state dated May 31, 2022, zero customs duty rates are set for the import of the following fruits and vegetables from May 1, 2022 to January 1, 2023:
- bananas, including plantains – fresh or dried, TN VED code: 0803;
- citrus fruits, fresh or dried (except lemon), TN VED code: 0805 (except 0805 50 100 0).
The list of products exempt from import duties also includes fish and fish products; milk and cream; butter; eggs; coffee; tea; soybean, rapeseed and palm oil; margarine; baker’s yeast; various cereals and other products.
The double rate of customs duty is not applied to goods in this list originating from countries with which trade and economic relations do not provide for the most favored nation treatment.
The document introduces a temporary ban on the export of the following products from Uzbekistan starting from June 1, 2022:
- vegetable oil, including cottonseed, sunflower oil, except for cases of prepayment under existing contracts until June 1, 2022, as well as processed in accordance with the customs regime “processing in the customs territory”;
- sunflower seeds, as well as seeds and fruits of other oilseeds.
We remind you that in October 2021, the government of Uzbekistan decided to exempt several fruits from import customs duties. The list included both widely consumed fruits, such as fresh apples, pears and quinces, as well as rather exotic ones: bananas, plantains (fresh or dried), kiwi, fresh or dried citrus fruits, fresh or dried dates, figs, pineapples, avocados, guava, mango and mangosteen or garcinia and fresh papaya. The government document provided for exemption of these products from customs duties until May 1, 2022.
Given that the zero-import duty regime for banana and citrus fruits was effective from October 2021 to the end of April 2022, except for one month – May, the recent government decision means the extension of such a regime for the import of these goods until the end of 2022.
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