Uzbekistan to apply silent consent to 50% of business services

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan will introduce a “silence means consent” principle for 50% of state services related to business activities, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on 18 August during an open dialogue with entrepreneurs in Khorezm region.

If an entrepreneur's application is not considered within the established deadline, it will automatically be deemed to have been resolved in the entrepreneur's favour.

According to the president, every case involving the refusal to issue a licence will be reviewed by the Business Ombudsman. At the same time, liability for unjustified refusals to issue licences is planned to be strengthened.

Uzbekistan will also abolish licences and permits for more than 30 types of activities. For another 35 types of activities, the time required to issue the relevant documents will be reduced by two to three times.

Another 10 types of permits are planned to be moved to a notification-based procedure. This will allow entrepreneurs to start the relevant activities after submitting a notification instead of going through the previous permit procedure.

Separate changes are planned for food exporters. Instead of separate veterinary, sanitary and phytosanitary permits, they will receive a single “Health Certificate”.

The proposed measures are aimed at reducing administrative procedures in interactions between businesses and state authorities and simplifying the process of obtaining the necessary permits and licences.