Customs cooperation between Uzbekistan and the Organization of Turkic States is comprehensively expanding

It creates conditions for developing mutual trust, friendship and good-neighborly relations among Turkic-speaking states, ensuring peace in the region, creating favorable conditions for trade and investment and cooperating in all spheres.

The Organization of Turkic States is increasingly gaining a distinctive and significant role in the emerging new world order and the system of international institutions. Covering a population of over 170 million the territory of the organization represents a region of great economic opportunities for all countries.

Uzbekistan’s accession to the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) defines new directions in the country’s foreign policy and contributes to strengthening regional cooperation and integration.

This is also reflected in the figures – Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover with OTS member states has nearly tripled compared to 2017, reaching 10 billion USD.

Within the framework of cooperation under the Organization, our Honorable President pays special attention to the development of global logistics chains and transport corridors, as well as the formation of a unified transit network.

The mutual cooperation of customs authorities plays a decisive role in strengthening the trade and economic foundation of cooperation, developing global logistics chains and transport corridors and forming a unified transit network.

An important step was taken in this regard at the Samarkand Summit in 2022 year – the Agreement on the Introduction of a Simplified Customs Corridor and the Agreement on International Joint Cargo Transportation were signed between the governments of the member states of the Organization of Turkic States.

The issue of forming a unified transit network within the OTS region holds particular significance. This can primarily be achieved only if all countries join the international eTIR system – the electronic procedure of the TIR Convention, which entered into force globally in May 2021 year.

In this way, it is possible to increase the volume of mutual trade turnover among member states of the organization and reduce the time and financial costs spent during this process.

The “eTIR” procedure offers a range of advantages from shortening customs clearance times to reducing transportation expenses.

Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Georgia have joined this international system, and in December 2022 year for the first time in the world, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan carried out the first eTIR shipment.

This novelty was warmly welcomed by the global business community and widely recognized by reputable international organizations.

Specifically, the United Nations, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and the official websites of the Organization of Turkic States have assessed this project as a true symbol of the idea to improve cargo transportation conditions among Central Asian and Caucasus countries.

If the “eTIR” procedure fully covers the member states of the Organization of Turkic States, it will facilitate prior information exchange about cargo, accelerate customs procedures and border crossings, enhance the export and transit potential of the countries and contribute to the development of reliable and secure transport corridors.

At the recent meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States, our Honorable President put forward a number of initiatives aimed at creating a new space for economic opportunities within the organization.

To achieve this, it is first necessary to develop clear agreements and arrangements on eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers, simplifying trade and customs regulations, and developing e-commerce platforms.

This, in turn, places a great responsibility on customs authorities, particularly requiring further expansion and deepening of customs cooperation within the framework of the organization.

So far, within the framework of the organization, in addition to the signing of the Agreement on the Simplified Customs Corridor, important steps have been taken in digitizing permit documents, managing risks, and mutually recognizing authorized economic operators.

However, in the era of globalization and rapid technological progress the continuous changes occurring almost daily require cooperation to cover all directions and be consistently maintained.

For example, the share of e-commerce in international trade is steadily increasing. Buyers directly purchase goods from producers in other countries through various electronic platforms, while modern logistics delivers these goods right to the consumer’s doorstep.

Therefore, considering the anticipated further growth of the e-commerce market, Uzbekistan’s customs propose to establish effective control measures within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States that ensure security without creating additional barriers, as well as to strengthen cooperation in this area.

Another aspect is that special attention is being paid in Uzbekistan to the digitization of the customs sector and the extensive use of artificial intelligence in this process.

Considering the increasing difficulty of manually managing and analyzing the large volumes of data accumulated in the customs sphere the extensive application of artificial intelligence is necessary, which naturally increases the demand for highly qualified personnel in this field.

For this reason, Uzbekistan’s customs pay special attention to cooperation in this direction within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States.

The Uzbek party also put forward a proposal to organize sports competitions among customs officers of the member states of the Organization of Turkic States. This format further strengthens the friendly atmosphere among customs officers within the organization and contributes to increasing the effectiveness of cooperation.

Rakhmonkul Shoimqulov
Senior Inspector of the
Scientific Center of Customs Committee

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