Uzbekistan and Belarus Strengthen Efforts to Remove Trade Barriers

Photo: Uzbekistan President's Press Service

Uzbekistan and Belarus Strengthen Efforts to Remove Trade Barriers

Belarus and Uzbekistan will collaborate to find common ground on eliminating technical barriers to trade.

This agreement was reached after a visit by a delegation from the Uzbek Agency for Technical Regulation (Uzstandart) to the Belarusian State Committee for Standardization (Gosstandart), according to the committee's press service, The Caspian Post reports citing BelTA.

The key item on the agenda of the visit was a working meeting to discuss ways to eliminate technical barriers in supplying certain types of Belarusian products to the Uzbek market. Chairperson of the Belarusian State Committee for Standardization Yelena Morgunova, being the head (from the Belarusian side) of the working group to address issues related to technical barriers to trade between Belarus and Uzbekistan, has repeatedly raised topical issues of mutual supplies. Problems in mutual trade in certain types of products were identified and ways of their solution were outlined.

The head of Gosstandart drew attention to the significant legal framework of bilateral cooperation in the field of technical regulation, standardization, metrology, conformity assessment and accreditation. She also spoke about joint work on the integration platforms within the CIS and EAEU and paid attention to the importance of removing technical barriers in mutual trade

Thus, in terms of energy efficiency requirements for household appliances, which prove difficult for all participants of the Uzbek market, Uzbekistan is currently working to bring the national legislation in line with the WTO requirements.

The amendments include the removal of a number of items, such as electric juicers and electric dryers, from the list of products that require energy efficiency testing. At the same time, the amendments clarify the criteria for assigning the energy efficiency class to products seeking market access and provides for a transition to European standards in this area. It was noted that it is important to keep each other updated about any additional requirements for mutually supplied products. The parties discussed the draft of Uzbekistan's new technical regulation for elevators. This document is much more comprehensive than the previous one and covers not only finished products, but also the entire production and operation cycle. The changes are relevant for the CIS largest elevator manufacturer - Mogilevliftmash. Its products meet European requirements, with which Uzbekistan's new technical regulation will be harmonized. The parties emphasized the importance of using appropriate testing methods and laboratory infrastructure when introducing mandatory requirements and compliance confirmation algorithms. Otherwise, it can cause certain difficulties, like it was with the supply of refrigerators and freezers. The State Committee for Standardization of Belarus believes that one should be guided by the principle of 'one product - one certificate' and take advantage of the participation of government agencies in international organizations. Minsk First Deputy Mayor Nadezhda Lazarevich believes it is necessary to add momentum to joint work. Among other things, she suggested considering the possibility of establishing joint production of certain goods. This would allow introducing new products to the market, speeding up conformity assessment procedures and providing strategic supply volumes. "We are willing to partner with you, develop cooperation, share our experience and technologies, for example, in elevators construction," she said.

The Belarusian side expressed interest in studying Uzbekistan's experience in establishing requirements for gas meters in terms of automatic gas metering control systems. Belarus exports these products and develops similar approaches. In turn, Uzbekistan showed great interest in training and interning their technical specialists using Belarusian competencies and experience.

First Deputy Director of Uzstandart Abdurauf Abdukayumov pointed out that all the discussed issues are included in the comprehensive program to eliminate technical barriers to mutual trade between Belarus and Uzbekistan, signed on 16 December 2024. "We need to speed up the implementation of measures envisaged in it, including the mutual recognition of documents," he stressed.

Yelena Morgunova confirmed the interest of the Belarusian industry in the Uzbek market and readiness to compete in it on equal terms, cooperate and conduct a meaningful dialogue.

During the visit of Uzbekistan's delegation, subordinate organizations of Gosstandart and Uzstandart also established cooperation. The national metrology institutes signed an agreement on cooperation in ensuring the uniformity of measurements and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in standardization and conformity assessment. The parties also discussed draft roadmaps to implement them.

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Belarus and Uzbekistan will collaborate to find common ground on eliminating technical barriers to trade.