NEWS

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a decree introducing a legal experiment with bonded warehouses in Uzbekistan. The pilot will run from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028 and aims to support the development of cross-border e-commerce.

The new mechanism allows imported goods to be stored in bonded warehouses under customs control, with duties and taxes paid only once the product is actually sold to the final consumer. This approach can help online retailers reduce upfront costs and streamline logistics.

How the system will work

Imported goods will be stored in special bonded warehouses and sold through e-commerce platforms included in a dedicated register maintained by the National Agency for Perspective Projects.

• Certain goods will be subject to simplified customs payments instead of standard import duties. For example, a 5% unified customs payment will apply to smartphones, laptops, tablets, household electrical appliances and audio equipment.
• Another category of goods — including clothing, footwear, computer peripherals, monitors, watches and gaming consoles — will be subject to 3% customs payment plus VAT.
• Duty-free import thresholds will not apply to these goods.

Goods released from bonded warehouses will not undergo conformity assessment or sanitary and veterinary checks. At the same time, responsibility for compliance with national regulations will rest with bonded warehouse operators.

The decree also introduces an anti-avoidance mechanism: if the actual selling price is lower than the customs value declared at import, customs payments will still be calculated based on the original customs valuation.

Products sold from bonded warehouses may only be purchased by individuals for personal use. If resale for commercial purposes is detected, standard customs payments will apply in full.

Another notable restriction is that goods produced within Uzbekistan cannot be placed in bonded warehouses, except for products intended for export. In addition, sellers will not be able to credit the VAT paid by the final consumer when transferring VAT to the state budget.

Targets for the sector

The decree sets ambitious goals for the development of e-commerce in Uzbekistan by 2030:

• increasing annual online trade turnover to 30 trillion soums
• creating more than 7,500 jobs
• attracting $300 million in investment

In parallel, the National Agency for Perspective Projects and the Ministry of Health have been tasked with preparing proposals within three months on enabling online sales of pharmaceuticals.

Regional comparison

Bonded warehouse models have been tested elsewhere in the region. A similar experiment took place in 2023 in the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia but did not gain traction, with market participants pointing to limited economic incentives and the complexity of the logistics chain.

Uzbekistan’s initiative represents a significant shift in how cross-border e-commerce may be regulated in the country. Potential advantages include faster delivery, lower pressure on working capital for importers and fewer administrative procedures.

At the same time, businesses will have to consider several constraints — including the resale ban, the inability to credit VAT and the need for significant logistics infrastructure. Experts estimate that Uzbekistan may need up to 2.5 million square meters of warehouse space over the next five years.

The two-year pilot will show whether Uzbekistan can turn bonded warehouses into an effective tool for scaling cross-border e-commerce and avoid the challenges seen in earlier experiments in the region.