July 24, 2014
NFC technologies for commerce and cell phones. 5
Uzbekistan announces 28 July as holiday. 6
economy
GDP Demonstrates Growth
In Tashkent, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan convened for a session to summarize the outcomes of the socio-economic development of the nation for the first half of the current year and work out additional measures to ensure the further implementation of the economic program for 2014.
The session participants comprehensively deliberated on and thoroughly analyzed the major macroeconomic indicators of the country’s development along with the effectiveness of measures taken to implement the strategy of modernization, diversification and amplification of the competitiveness of the economy.
Owing to the consistent and goal-oriented realization of the most vital dimensions and priorities of the program of socio-economic development of the country, mobilization of the available sources of growth, notwithstanding the increasing risks and controversies in the evolution of the global economy, Uzbekistan has been securing the macroeconomic stability and sustained high growth rates in its economy. As the figures of the first half of the current year indicate, the GDP has grown by 8.1%, the industrial production has increased by 8.1%, and the construction works by 17.4%. The National Budget has been executed with a surplus of 0.1% of the GDP.
Keeping with the measures to stimulate the domestic demand and to cardinally bolster the production of consumer goods and fastest development of the services sector have helped to ensure growth in the production of consumer products by 10.8%, of retail turnover by 13.7% and paid services by 9.7%. The share of the services sector in the gross domestic product has increased to reach 52.7%, in contrast to 52.4% in the first half of the year 2013.
(Source: “Uzbekistan Today” newspaper)
Business climate
Peculiarities of determining the origin of goods exported from the Republic of Uzbekistan to the CIS member states
In the Republic of Uzbekistan, certification of commodity origin is carried out in keeping with the Regulations on the Procedure for Certifying the Origin of Goods, registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan No 2131 dated August 13, 2010 and No 2131-1 dated October 13, 2012 as amended.
The certificate of commodity origin is a document, which unequivocally testifies to the commodity’s country of origin. Issued in the Republic of Uzbekistan with a view to confirming the commodity’s country of origin, certificates of commodity origin may be used by exporters to become eligible for certain privileges that are granted by the legislation currently in effect in an importing country. The certificate of commodity origin is presented to customs authorities in a country of import, together with other commodity accompanying documents, amenably to its requirements. The certificate of commodity origin is not included in a list of obligatory documents to be presented to customs authorities when registering exports from the Republic of Uzbekistan in a foreign country (registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan, No 428). To obtain such a certificate, the applicant submits a written application of the established form, with copies of the following documents, signed by its head or an appropriately authorized official and sealed with its organization’s stamp, being attached:
A contract signed between the supplier and the purchaser, which has been registered with competent authorities of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
An invoice for a dispatched consignment of goods;
Documents designed to confirm information about the producer, origin of the raw materials and components used in the production of exported goods (contracts for the delivery of raw materials, invoices or shipping customs documents submitted when importing raw materials and spare parts to the Republic of Uzbekistan);
Documents, in whose accordance the technological process of commodity production is carried out.
In cases where imported components, raw materials and spare parts are used in the production of goods, the following documents should be presented, in addition to those indicated above:
A calculation of the commodity’s prime cost, with the cost of all used materials being taken into consideration (if it is necessary to determine the origin of goods, according to the rule of ad valorem share;
The assessment of any change in the commodity position (the commodity’s classification code) in the Commodity Nomenclature CN FEA at the level of any of the first four digits , which has occurred as a result of the commodity’s processing.
An incomplete set of required documents is not accepted for consideration.
If the applicant needs to resort to services offered by OAO Uzbekexpertiza, including for the purpose of obtaining a certificate of the origin of goods exported or re-exported from the Republic of Uzbekistan, a corresponding application may be submitted electronically. There is a special link on the company’s updated site – expertiza.uz. And all that is needed to submit an application is the availability of the internet connection, a scanner, computer skills and a great desire to keep abreast with the times and to save one’s own time and means. Today, one can submit an application from one’s own office or home, or even from a mobile device!
The advantages of submitting an application in the electronic form are obvious:
The swift pace, at which the necessary certificates or resolutions are obtained;
There is no need for an organization’s head to be present personally when an application is submitted;
It is possible to be informed of some defects in documents and to eliminate them prior and after the application is accepted;
The saving of time and other expenses, because after the submission of electronic applications, the customer appears directly in the course of examination for the issuance and receipt of documents, or in case of need, for the acquaintance of experts with production facilities, selection of samples etc.;
During the examination procedure, following the submission of electronic applications, customers receive other necessary documents from other authorities and information on how examination is carried out even on their mobile devices (e-mail).
At the same time, applications written on paper may also be submitted.
In keeping with the May 31, 2013 Record on the application of the Free Trade Zone Agreement dated October 18, 2011, goods originating from the CIS member states and used in trade between its signatories and the Republic of Uzbekistan, are treated in pursuance with the Rules of Determining the Commodity Origin Country, approved by the Decision of the Council of CIS Heads of Governments, “On the Rules of Determining the Commodity Origin Country”, as of September 24, 1993 (hereinafter to be referred to as the Rules).
A country of commodity origin is a state, where the commodity was fully manufactured or subject to sufficient processing.
The following categories of commodities are considered to be fully produced in a given country:
Minerals extracted on its territory, in its territorial waters, on its continental shelf and in its sea depths, if a given country has exclusive rights to develop these depths;
Vegetable produce, grown and reaped on its territory;
Livestock, born and raised on its territory;
Produce made in a given country from the livestock reared therein;
Produce obtained in hunting, fish-breeding and maritime sectors;
Sea produce obtained and/or made in the world ocean by the ships, which belong to a given country or by the ships leased or freighted by the latter;
Secondary raw material and waste products, resulting from production or other operations performed in a given country;
High-tech produce obtained in the open space on spacecraft, which belong to a given country or are leased by the latter;
Goods made in a given country exclusively from the produce mentioned in sub-paragraph “a” – “h”.
In cases where two or more countries participate in the commodity’s production, its origin is determined in accordance with the “sufficient processing” criterion.
The “sufficient processing” criterion can be expressed by:
The rule that requires to change a tariff position of a corresponding commodity nomenclature, with a list of exemptions being enclosed;
A list of production or technological processes, which are sufficient or insufficient for the commodity to be regarded as originating from the country, where these processes have taken place;
The “ad valorem share” rule, when the percentage of the cost of materials used or value added reaches a fixed limit in the free-on-factory price of the commodity supplied.
In cases where no criteria are specified for a concrete commodity or a concrete country (countries), a general rule is applicable, pursuant to which the commodity is considered to be subject to sufficient processing, if its tariff position (a commodity classification code) in the Commodity Nomenclature has changed at the level of any of the first four digits.
At the same time, the following operations are not covered by the ”sufficient processing” criterion:
Operations intended to ensure the safety of goods in the course of their storage or transportation;
Operations associated with the preparation of goods for sale and transportation ( breaking up the batches, forming the dispatches, sorting and re-packing);
Simple assembly operations;
Mixing of goods (components), an operation that doesn’t impart any characteristics that substantially distinguish the output from its initial ingredients;
The combination of two or more operations indicated above;
The slaughter of livestock.
At the same time, when determining the origin of goods, the origin of thermal and electric power, machinery, equipment and instruments used in their production, is not taken into account.
When goods are exported from the CIS member states, the certificate of commodity origin is issued by a body authorized to do so in accordance with national law of a commodity origin country.
The CIS member states exchange the patterns of stamps used by authorities and signatures of officials empowered to attest the certificates of commodity origin. The certificates are regarded as invalid, if the indicated patterns are not provided. As a consequence, preferences stipulated in trade agreements do not cover such goods.
The certificate of commodity origin should contain the following necessary details about the commodity, for which it has been issued:
The name and address of the exporter;
The name and address of the importer;
Means of transport used and the route of transportation (as far as it is known);
The number of packages, type of packaging and description of commodity, which contains all information required to identify a given commodity;
The gross and net weight.
The certificate of commodity origin should unequivocally testify to the fact that a given commodity originates from a corresponding country, i.e. it must contain the following documents:
The exporter’s written declaration that the commodity meets a corresponding origin criterion;
A written document from a competent authority that has issued the certificate of commodity origin, which is designed to prove that all the information provided in the certificate by the exporter fully corresponds to reality.
The certificate of commodity origin presented to customs authorities should be typed in Russian and contain no corrections.
The certificate of commodity origin is presented together with the cargo customs declaration and other documents, which are required for customs registration.
In case of loss, an attested copy of the certificate of commodity origin is accepted.
If there appears any doubt about the irreproachability of the certificate of commodity origin itself or any detail it contains, customs authorities may appeal to the authorized bodies that have finalized the issuance of a given document or to other competent bodies in the country indicated there as a commodity-origin country, with a well-grounded request for the provision of additional or specific data.
The commodity is not considered to originate from a given country until an appropriate document is provided to confirm the origin of goods or the information inquired about.
As a general rule, the non-presentation of the appropriately registered certificate of commodity origin or information on the origin of goods is not regarded as the ground for non-admission of goods.
Customs authorities may deny admission of goods only if there are sufficient grounds to think that the cargo comes from a country, whose goods are not to be admitted to a country of import in compliance with international agreements, which are currently in force in regard of a given country and/or its own national legislation.
In keeping with the Rules, a procedure for determining a country of origin of goods imported to the customs territory of the CIS member states from the third countries and exported to the third countries from the CIS member states is regulated by the latter’s national legislation.
(Source: “Business partner.uz” newspaper)
TECHNOLOGIES
NFC technologies for commerce and cell phones
Uzbekistan is planning a project that is going to play a key role in the introduction of modern information technologies in the nation’s transactional sphere.
The project is aimed at the introduction of Near Field Communications technology (NFC) in the republic. NFC, which has been used in other countries for several years already, is a set of standards for mobile phones and special devices to allow for making contactless payments. Today, NFC users in many countries book and purchase air tickets, pay for consumer goods, car parks and public transportation, etc via their mobile phones.
The first attempts to introduce this technology in Uzbekistan were made in 2011. Then, a correspondent of Uzbekistan Today, attending the presentation of the new payment system ‘SMS-To’lov’, expressed some reasonable skepticism about the assertion of a representative of the project company that ‘SMS-To’lov’ would very soon develop into a groundbreaking NFC system working in the country. Indeed, Uzbekistan needed more time to develop its e-commerce sector fully, for it required building certain infrastructure with the retailers and changing the attitude of the population who, with the exception of the youth, could not get used to the new advanced payment methods quickly.
Only three years later, e-commerce became a wide practice in the country. Many Uzbek people, as they had got ‘on-line’ plastic cards, began to pay for cellular communication services, Internet services, utilities and products from on-line stores via their mobile phones. Uzbekistan had finally developed a necessary infrastructure and legal framework for such transactions and it was time to introduce NFC technology in the republic. To do this, Uzbekistan is planning to attract AESMA and Sofrecom Group, French companies with broad experience in implementing similar projects. At a business forum held in Tashkent last week, French experts told about the specific projects to be carried out in the country. Among them ones of setting NFC services in commercial banks such as Agrobank, retail and entertainment centers Megaplanet и Korzinka, as well as integrating NFC facility into the new mobile phone models made by Artel.
According to the representatives of AESMA and Sofrecom Group, development of NFC services in Uzbekistan will certainly have a beneficial effect on its economy. In other countries, NFC applications are widely used in mobile phones making them car and apartment electronic keys, electronic wallets, identification access cards, transmitters and receivers of various types of data, etc. When NFC applications become widespread in Uzbekistan, they will undoubtedly help to increase the sales and expand the services in the domestic markets and hence contribute to the economic growth in the country.
(Source: “Uzbekistan Today” newspaper)
SOCIETY
Uzbekistan announces 28 July as holiday
President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed a resolution “On celebration of Ramadan Hait” on 23 July, in line with which 28 July is announced as holiday in Uzbekistan.
The document was adopted taking into account role and importance of Eid ul-Fitr in spiritual life of Uzbekistan, preserving and praising national-spiritual values.
According to the document, first day of Eid ul-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan month, falls to 28 July. In order to mark the holiday widely, Uzbek leader announced 28 July as holiday in Uzbekistan.
The resolution entrusted national funds Nuroniy and Makhalla, Kamolat Youth Movement and other public structure organize celebrations in high level.
(Source: UzDaily.com)