On April 11, 2018, President Mirziyoev signed a decree providing for a palpable simplification of licensing procedures in a variety of industries. Generally, 42 licences and special permits were cancelled, whereas numerous procedures for obtaining licences and special permits were streamlined by the way of merging similar procedures, cutting procedural terms, decreasing the number of application documents and re-allocating licensing powers amongst state agencies. Most changes are coming into force starting from June 1, 2018.

This legal alert outlines some of the most notable changes, as provided below.

  1. Licences and permits are cancelled for, among other things:

    • fermentation of tobacco materials,
    • production, dubbing and demonstration of audio-visual materials,
    • sale and rent of audio-visual materials and software,
    • quality control over medicaments and medical products,
    • scientific research on creation of medicaments and medical products,
    • retail traders in the aspect of conformity to sanitary rules,
    • temporal import,
    • placement of goods under the customs regimes of re-import or re-export,
    • change of the route for foreign freight carriers,
    • placement of outdoor advertisement,
    • export of used equipment and machinery.
  2. Several licences and permits are merged into a single licence or a permit, including, among other things:

    • separate licences for design, construction, operation and provision of services related to telecommunication networks,
    • separate permits for installation, repair, commissioning and operation of new technical devices used at a hazardous production facility.
  3. Starting from June 1, 2018, all licences, with few exceptions (e.g. the licences for medical and pharmaceutical activities) will be issued for unlimited term.
  4. Based on the decree, if the relevant licensing body does not take a decision on the issue or the refusal to issue a licence within the consideration period as provided by law, the applicant has a right to carry out the licensed activity without the licence, provided a due notification on commencement of the licensed activities is given to the licensing body.
  5. As noted above, the decree softened some license requirements, reduced some consideration terms and abolished the requirement for submission of some application documents. To give an example, the minimum charter capital requirement for real estate agents was replaced with the requirement to insure provided services.

The decree instruct the Ministry of Justice, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other state agencies to continue the work on simplification of other licensing procedures and eradication of excessive requirements.

It is to note the final version of the decree did not include some initial simplification proposals, including the abolition of the licensing of the wholesale trade and internal tourism services.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.