Head of Uzbekistan’s Customs Committee Discusses Transit Facilitation with IRU in Geneva

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Global Forum on Border Procedure Simplification and the meeting on the International Convention on the Control of Transit are currently taking place in Geneva, with delegations from the customs authorities of 78 countries in attendance.

As part of the events, Akmalhoja Mavlonov, Chairman of the Customs Committee of Uzbekistan, held a bilateral meeting with Umberto de Pretto, Director of the International Road Transport Union (IRU/MSAT), to discuss key issues in the development of international freight transportation and the improvement of transit controls.

The IRU plays a crucial role in accelerating global trade and protecting the rights of carriers. Uzbekistan has been a member of the TIR Convention since 1995, which allows vehicles transporting goods to be exempted from inspections, customs oversight, and additional insurance at intermediate customs checkpoints in transit countries.

Transport under the TIR system is conducted using the TIR Carnet, an international document guaranteeing cargo coverage of up to €100,000. Every fourth international road transport shipment passes through Uzbekistan, and 51% of export shipments are carried out under TIR rules.

Given the country’s rapidly growing foreign trade turnover, these figures are considered insufficient. While Uzbekistan handled more than 300,000 export, import, and transit shipments in 2018, by 2025 this number had tripled to one million.

In response, Presidential Decree PF-250 of 17 December 2025, “On Measures to Further Simplify Customs Administration and Improve the Efficiency of Foreign Trade Turnover,” emphasizes the full implementation of electronic TIR systems in Uzbekistan — SafeTIR and TIR-EPD — integrated with the Customs Committee’s E-Tranzit information system.

During the meeting, both sides discussed the possibility of increasing the TIR guarantee from €100,000 to €200,000 through the TIR+ mechanism in Uzbekistan. Participants noted that this step would encourage greater use of TIR procedures and introduce additional simplifications for carriers.

Implementation of these initiatives will require aligning national legislation with international standards and considering an agreement with the Uzbekistan Carriers’ Association on additional guarantees.

The discussion also highlighted cooperation between the IRU Academy and the Customs Institute of the Uzbekistan Customs Committee in training specialists in logistics and ensuring the security of international trade supply chains.

These measures aim to enhance the efficiency of Uzbekistan’s foreign trade and strengthen its role as a regional transit hub.