Uzbekistan will enforce new regulations starting July 20, requiring citizens to have spent a specified period abroad to import goods for personal use duty-free. The State Customs Committee announced the implementation of these rules.
As per a government decree, duty-free import limits for goods intended for personal, non-commercial use by individuals were established, effective May 1, 2025.
Specifically:
Under the new regulations:
Failure to meet the stipulated time frame will result in the forfeiture of duty-free privileges, subjecting the total value of the goods to a unified customs payment.
The customs value of goods will be determined based on receipts, invoices, or other commercial documents. In the absence of such documentation, valuations will be based on databases of previously imported similar goods.
In April, Khusan Tangriev, a representative of the Customs Committee, reported an increase in instances of goods being imported under the guise of personal luggage, particularly via air transport. At that time, over 500 such cases were recorded at Tashkent Airport alone, with more than 10,000 cases nationwide.
He noted that some citizens were exploiting the duty-free import allowance as a means of income, flying abroad daily for up to 90 consecutive days. Commonly imported items include clothing, pharmaceuticals, perfumes, jewelry, household appliances, and tobacco products.