Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Customs clearance of mobile devices brought into Uzbekistan through Tashkent International Airport has been temporarily suspended pending clarification of procedures for verifying IMEI numbers and confirming the legality of imports. The press service of Uzbekistan’s Customs Committee reported this.
The decision follows the discovery of sophisticated schemes involving the illegal use of duty-free import allowances. According to the committee, attempts to forge IMEI codes, use identifiers belonging to other devices and reuse data from a single phone to legalise several devices have become more frequent.
Since the beginning of 2026, the Tashkent-AERO customs post has prevented 185 attempts to illegally import 1,185 mobile devices with a total value of 8.8bn soums.
The Customs Committee explained that checking IMEI identifiers, including establishing whether IMEI-1 and IMEI-2 codes belong to the same device, requires specialised knowledge and qualifications. It is also necessary to determine whether network activity using these codes has previously been recorded.
The committee said that, together with other government agencies, it had identified measures to clarify IMEI verification and customs clearance procedures for mobile devices. Once the procedures have been agreed, the authorities plan to clarify the situation as soon as possible and resume clearance in accordance with the established rules.
The Customs Committee also urged passengers not to trust unverified reports on social media and to rely on official sources.
Passengers can contact the committee’s 24-hour hotline on the short number 11-08 with questions about customs clearance of mobile devices or reports of possible corruption.
